Aboitiz Group has announced that its infrastructure business unit Aboitiz InfraCapital, Inc. (AIC) has been granted Original Proponent Status (OPS) by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) for its unsolicited proposal for the upgrade, expansion, operations, and maintenance of the Laguindingan Airport in Misamis Oriental.

The PHP42.7 billion (US$821.9 million) project involves capacity augmentation through expansion or construction of new passenger terminals, installation of required equipment, and enhancement and development of airside facilities.

Passenger traffic at Laguindingan Airport has been above the airport’s design capacity of 1.6 million passengers per year from the time the airport began operations in 2013, based on statistics from CAAP. In 2018, an estimated two million passengers passed through this airport.

AIC aims to execute a concession agreement and take over operations of the airport this year. Its proposal will first be subject to a Swiss Challenge, whereby other developers will be invited to submit bids for the project. Should a second party propose more attractive terms, AIC, as the Original Proponent, will be given the opportunity to match the proposal or cede the project.