NEWS
Big plans for Philippine gateways
The Philippine government has extended the bidding deadlines for Mactan-Cebu International Airport’ s new terminal to April 5 after claiming to be“ overwhelmed” by more than 1,000 queries for it and two other private public partnership projects.
The deadline for investors submitting pre-qualification documents in Mactan-Cebu’ s $ 240 million terminal project had initially been set at March 22 as the government looked to push through the deal this year.
“ Ensuring that the government receives the most advantageous deals with long-term stability is our priority,” the Department of Transportation and Communications( DOTC) said in a statement. In addition to a new 3.5mppa capacity international terminal at Mactan-Cebu, the government wants the successful bidder to invest a further $ 185 million on expanding the domestic terminal to 41,000sqm.
Vinci Airports is widely tipped to be one of the potential bidders for Mactan-Cebu in the PPP project, which is being facilitated by the government-owned Public-Private Partnership Center.
Executive director of the Public-Private Partnership Center, Cosette Canilao, told Airport World:“ We need to update existing terminals and build news ones and new airports to meet future demand, and believe that PPP projects are the best way to develop them.”
Stansted to sparkle!
The new owners of London Stansted claim that they plan to put the‘ sparkle’ back into the airport.
New managing director, Andrew Harrison, appointed in March following Manchester Airports Group’ s( MAG) € 1.75 billion purchase of the London gateway from Heathrow Airport Holdings, said MAG’ s challenge was to allow Stansted to fulfill its“ great potential”.
Harrison told Airport World:“ It has great raw material, a Lord Foster-designed terminal, the best terminal facilities in the UK, and it is the fastest and most efficient terminal in the UK.
“ The main thing we’ ll be looking to do is add a bit of sparkle to the experience. It has great design but the experience is a bit transactional. What comes across is that everyone who works here is really proud to work in this airport, so now we have an opportunity to unleash that enthusiasm.”
News in brief
Winds of change
North America will lose two key aviation figures this June – ACI-North America president, Gregory Principato( pictured above) and Las Vegas-McCarran’ s airport director, Randall Walker.
Principato, who succeeded David Plavin in the ACI-NA hotseat in July 2005, said that he believed the time was right to“ seek new challenges and opportunities”.
He added:“ I am incredibly proud of the ACI-NA team and what we have accomplished in redefining ACI-NA and its position as the‘ voice of airports’ on legislative and regulatory issues in the United States and Canada, but after eight years, I reached the conclusion that the time is right to seek new challenges and opportunities.”
Walker, who retires after 16 years in the Las Vegas hotseat, said:“ Our vision is to‘ Be a Global Leader,’ and we have certainly accomplished this in several areas. I know the team will continue to work toward that vision for all areas of the operation going forward.”
He will be succeeded by long serving deputy, Rosemary Vassiliadis, who will become the first female to head the Clark County Department of Aviation.
Pittsburgh to drill for oil
Allegheny County Airport Authority has approved a $ 500 million deal with Consol Energy for the rights to drill for natural gas and oil on the Pittsburgh International Airport site.
Under the deal, Consol is expected to drill at least 50 wells across 9,000 acres of land that could generate more than $ 1 billion in economic benefit for the region over the next 20 years. The airport authority claims that it will use the windfall to make Pittsburgh more competitive by reducing airline costs and enhancing its infrastructure.“ It isn’ t often that the County is able to announce a billion dollar investment,” quipped
Allegheny County executive, Rich Fitzgerald. Officials think the first wells will be drilled in late 2014 or early 2015, after lengthy reviews from both the state Department of Environmental Protection and the Federal Aviation Administration.
Dublin Airport Authority has been recognised for its innovative use of social media by picking up the Communications Award at the 2013 Irish Logistics and Transport Awards. The judges were impressed by Dublin Airport’ s significant position on Twitter, the high engagement levels that the airport generates on its Facebook page, and the airport’ s use of new social media channels such as Pinterest, SoundCloud and Instagram.
Vienna Airport chiefs believe the Austrian gateway is“ on the right course” after recovering from a poor 2011 to report large profit increases for 2012. Revenue rose by 4.4 % to € 607.4 million; EBITDA by 17.1 % to € 221.4 million, EBIT increased 60.8 % to € 108.0 million. Günther Ofner, CFO of operator Flughafen Wien AG, said:“ Our company is on the right course. In 2012 we significantly increased productivity and also generated profitable growth.
Abu Dhabi Airports Company( ADAC) has received a trio of ISO certificates for the provision of quality services at the Emirate’ s gateways.
Its Airports Operations Division, which provides services at Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Al Bateen Executive airports, has received the ISO 9001: 2008( Quality Management System), ISO 14001: 2004( Environmental Management System) and OHSAS 18001:2007( Occupational Health and Safety Management System) certifications for its activities. ADAC claims that the third-party certification is international recognition of its standards and work to embrace a culture of quality and excellence.
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AIRPORT WORLD / APRIL-MAY 2013