The Dennis Uy-led Udenna Infrastructure Corp. is hoping that its unsolicited proposal to develop the Davao International Airport will take place in the third quarter so that it can start by early next year, an official of the company said.
“Right now we are just working on the concession agreement (after the comments of the government on it) so once we are clear with the government on the concession agreement and the documents for the Swiss challenge, hopefully 9the proposal can be submitted for Swiss Challenge) by third quarter,” Udenna Infrastructure Corporation assistant vice president Manuel Jamonir said on Wednesdays @ Habi at Kape Abreeza.
A Swiss Challenge is a bidding process for unsolicited project proposals.
Unlike the regular bidding process, this process allows the original project proponent to match whatever is the winning bid.
In October 2018, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) granted “original proponent status” to Chealsea Logistics Holdings Corp., the holdings company of the Udenna Group of Companies, for the development operation and management of the airport.
The airport project has an investment cost of P48.8 billion with a concession period of 30 years, between 2020 until 2050 with 20 years optional extension.
The indicative master development plan for the project includes construction of parallel taxiway, reconfiguration and expansion of the passenger terminal building, landslide and airside improvements as well as the introduction of new airport technologies to enhance passenger experience.
Part of the strategic initiatives for the airport is to work with National Government Agencies (NGAs) and Local Government Units (LGUs) to implement intermodal connectivity.
“There are other potential destinations, right now we have China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Qatar but hopefully within the region, we will have connection to Bali, revive the Kuala Lumpur, and then Japan , go to Korea, even to Australia,” Jamonir said.
He said, while they are waiting for the start of the Swiss Challenge, they are doing preparatory works for the airport, focusing on its architectural design.
“We are very optimistic that the Davao airport will be among the major players of aviation considering that Davao is a MICE hub and we have all those products and tourism destinations, we see airlines are expanding and we see the growth in number of OFWs and then there’s a growing trend now of aviation in Asia ,” he added.
