The Davao International Airport (DIA) will be up for redevelopment, according to an airport official.
The long-awaited improvement of DIA is expected to commence with the detailed engineering design and bidding for contractor by next year., according to DIA Manager Engr. Rex Obcena, who revealed the plans in Tuesday’s virtual presser.
Obcena said construction of the parallel taxiway that will connect the first halfway of the runway towards the apron (flight line or ramp), which is the area of an airport where aircraft are parked, unloaded or loaded, refilled, or boarded, has already started.
“Tuloy ang improvement ng Davao airport, in fact, na-umpisahan na ngayon ang construction ng parallel taxiway that cost more than P200 million,” Obcena said.
He added that the initial expansion of the passenger terminal building probably will be bid out early next year then construction of civil works, which according to him is a long and tedious process, will follow.
“The project will push through medyo na-delay lang gamay because of the pandemic. Murag dili pa masugdan this year ang improvement kasi ang una na process is i-bid out sa ang detailed engineering then after that will be the bidding process for the construction of the civil works which is very long and tedious process and following regulations especially with the implementation of the procurement law,” he said.
Despite the delay, Obcena assured that the budget for the improvement is still available and that the project will push through.
“Probably in one or two years basin ma-start na. I know for sure the budget is not taken out, it is still there. But I cannot give you as of the moment the adjusted timeline of the start of construction,” he said.
Much is expected in terms of improvement of its operations, services and airport facilities in DIA with the creation of the Davao International Airport Authority (DIAA), which was approved by the House of Representatives through House Bill 8691 last year.
Meanwhile, Udenna Infrastructure Corporation has submitted the proposal for the DIA’s rehabilitation to DoTr also last year.
Udenna Infrastructure, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Udenna Corp., is providing technical support to Chelsea Logistics for the project, which has an estimated investment cost of P48.8 billion.
Chelsea Logistics was awarded Original Proponent Status for its proposal that includes the development, operation and management of DIA over a concession period of 30 years.
Under the proposal, Chelsea Logistics forecasts passenger traffic to hit 15.5 million by 2050. In 2018, DIA throughput was 4.4 million passengers.
The rehabilitation aims to increase international traffic thus the proponent plans to partner with an airport operator with an international network to facilitate new-route development by working with the government to develop new routes within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).
Covering an area of 209 hectares, proposed developments for DIA include a parallel taxiway, reconfiguration and expansion of the passenger terminal building, land-side and air-side improvements, and introduction of new airport technology.
The development will be executed in three phases, with Phase 1 targeted to start next year covering the rehabilitation and expansion of the passenger terminal building and the construction of a new cargo terminal building, among others.
The National Economic and Development Authority -Investment Coordination Committee (NEDA-ICC) Cabinet Committee has approved the rehab project in December 2019 and is awaiting NEDA Board approval.
