MANILA – Chelsea Logistics Holdings Corp. (CLC) has submitted to the Department of Transportation (DOTr) an unsolicited Public-Private Partnership (PPP) proposal to develop the Davao and New Bohol (Panglao) International airports.
In a disclosure to the stock exchange on Friday, CLC reported that the proposal — which was submitted to the DOTr on Feb. 5 — is for a 30-year concession covering the development, operation, and management of the areas in the two airports that are not within the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines’ control.
“We will modernize both Davao and Panglao international airports into world-class airports without government subsidy by implementing the development in three phases with an estimated total project cost of P67 billion,” CLC President & CEO Chryss Alfonsus Damuy was quoted as saying in a press release.
“However, for economical viability of the project, the succeeding works after the development of Phase 1 shall be subject to the traffic growth requirements and compliance with the minimum performance standards,” he added.
If proposal gains government approval by this year, “improvement of passenger experience and benefit to the community will start next year,” Mr. Damuy said.
CLC is anticipating airport traffic to grow to 8 million to 15 million passengers in Davao, and 1.5 million to 2.1 million passengers in the New Bohol International Airport in Panglao by 2050.
With the construction of a new full parallel taxiway, the Davao International Airport is expected to be able to accommodate 30 hourly aircraft movements. By the end of the 30-year concession period, the airport’s cargo terminal is expected to have three times its current capacity. Meanwhile, that of the new Bohol airport is expected to expand by 25%.
The two airports are among the five regional airports that were originally bundled for a PPP project during the Aquino administration, but not followed through since the Duterte administration came into power.
CLC will be contending with Aboitiz Equity Ventures for the New Bohol International Airport, with the latter having submitted a P148-billion proposal to develop, operate, and manage four regional airports, Bohol’s being one of them.
“We ensure that every project we undertake is aligned with our goal to be the preferred end-to-end supply chain logistics service provider in the country, and which will as a result, generate more value for our stakeholders and improved outcomes for Filipinos,” Mr. Damuy said in the release.
CLC’s net profit for 2017 grew by 17.5% growth to P161 million year on year following numerous acquisitions in ships and businesses that boosted its revenues.
Shares in CLC gained P0.470 or 6.28% to close at P7.95 each at the stock exchange on Friday.