The provincial government of Cavite awarded the $11-billion Sangley Point Airport Project to a consortium led by Cavitex Holdings Inc. and Yuchengo group after a series of failed biddingS and negotiations with China Communications Construction Co.
SPIA Development Corp., which is composed of Cavitex Holdings, Yuchengco Group, MacroAsia Corp. and their foreign partners, committed to transform the Sangley Point International Airport into a fully-modernized, world-class and green airport.
The consortium said the project would revitalize not only the tourism industry, which is a major pillar in the country’s economic recovery and growth and development agenda, but also the overall business environment.
“We are excited to begin the work necessary to finally implement this long-needed infrastructure project that is aimed at providing a premium gateway that will initially serve as an alternative to NAIA [Ninoy Aquino International Airport] and designed to meet an anticipated increase in demand for air transport in the next 30-40 years,” SPIA said.
“The challenge is great, but the SPIA Development Consortium is very well prepared for the work at hand, highly committed to deliver within the project timelines because of the local and international members who are all highly reputable developers and investors that have enviable track records in developing large-scale infrastructure projects,” it said.
Cavitex Holdings, the Philippine lead, said it would bring its expertise in infrastructure development, while the Yuchengco Group of Companies, through House of Investments, said it would contribute its expertise and financial resources in developing large-scale projects.
MacroAsia said it would lend its expertise with aviation support in logistics and technical services for aviation support.
The foreign members of the consortium include Samsung C&T Corp., Munich Airport International GmbH and Ove Arup & Partners Hong Kong Limited.
The project includes the construction of a four-kilometer connector road, with provisions for rail connectivity, fully-integrated logistics and aviation support facilities. With the development of the first runway, SPIA can operate as a satellite runway to immediately relieve the extreme congestion of the runway at NAIA.
The SPIA Development is expected to create 50,000 jobs and be a catalyst project to bring in foreign direct investment that will promote trade and economic development, the group said.
The Cavite government in January 2021 scrapped the deal with China Communications Construction Co. and MacroAsia to build and operate the Sangley International Airport because of deficiencies in documentations.