DESPITE the limitations brought about by the implementation of enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Luzon, Megawide Construction Corp. said it is confident that it can complete the construction of Clark International Airport’s new passenger terminal building (PTB) on schedule.
Megawide Chairman Edgar Saavedra said construction works at the new terminal, access roads, bus station, and car parks, are now 96 percent complete with “only minor works remaining.”
“Despite any challenges we are facing, we were actually ahead of schedule before the ECQ was implemented in Luzon,” he said.
Based on their agreement, Megawide is scheduled to deliver the project to the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) before July 31 this year.
“The ECQ has minimal impact on our construction timelines for Clark International Airport primarily because engineering and construction are Megawide’s core strengths and the fact that we leveraged on what we learned from the Mactan-Cebu International Airport expansion,” he said.
The Clark International Airport’s new terminal is designed to increase the capacity of the airport from 4 million passengers per annum (mppa) to 12 mppa. Clark International Airport is envisioned to be Asia’s next premier gateway and is seen to help decongest the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) in Manila.
Megawide won the auction for the development of the new Clark terminal in 2017.
After the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) in Manila, Clark is the second main gateway to Luzon. It has a rated capacity of roughly 4 million passengers per year.
North Luzon Airport Consortium—composed of Filinvest Development Corp., JG Summit Holdings Inc., Philippine Airport Ground Support Solutions Inc. and Changi Airports Philippines Pte. Ltd.—operates the airport.
The Department of Transportation (DOTr) said in an advisory in January that construction works for the new terminal was “93.31 percent finished.” What remains to be finished, the DOTr said, are the exterior finishes, ancillary facilities, the deployment of specialist systems and equipment, and landside works.
“Once finished, the new passenger terminal building will boost and triple the current passenger capacity, from 4.2 million to 12.2 million passengers annually,” the advisory read.
Image credits: Bernard Testa