New Bacolod Airport (BCD), Negros Island, Philippines

New Bacolod Airport is a new domestic airport that has been constructed from scratch on a greenfield site in Barangay, Bagtic, Silay City; located 24km north of an existing airport that it will replace once completed – also called Bacolod Airport – in Bacolod City on Negros Island.

The airport has been constructed as part of a major Philippine government transport infrastructure development plan covering air, road and sea transport.

The new Bacolod Airport is the first stage in the air transport infrastructure development strategy of the Department of Transport and Communications (DOTC) – air tansportation ofice to improve air transportation and safety in compliance with international standards, and which includes a major contribution by private companies towards finance.

The airport will be for domestic flights in an effort to trigger business and tourism for the central Philippines (Visayas) area; this area includes Negros Island, where the new airport is to be situated, and Cebu Island, a popular tourist destination.

The new 2km runway is also due to be extended by 500m in order that the airport can accept international flights as well in future operations.

Construction work for the project started on schedule in August 2004 following the appointment of the major contractors in July 2004. The construction and outfitting contract for the new airport was worth an estimated ¥8.2bn (4.3bn Peso).

Much of the required finance for the airport project (77%) came from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) (24th Yen loan package) and the national government provided the rest (23%).

The construction was completed by July 2007, and the airport buildings were inaugurated, but operations were delayed by access roads not being finished and a debate over whether the runway should be extended prior to operations starting for safety reasons. The owners of the new airport are the government of the Philippines, Department of Transportation and Communications – air transportation office.

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATION STRATEGY

In 1997, the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) conducted a study on selected airports' master planning projects and set out the long-term development requirements of four trunk-line airports.

The new Bacolod Airport was among the four identified as key trunk-line airports. The three other airports in this category were in Iloilo (completed), Tacloban (not under consideration yet) and Legaspi (in planning). It was with these that JICA found the highest rate of growth of air passenger numbers and cargo volume.

In addition, the DOTC implemented the selected airports development project in the same year and recommended a medium-term development plan for the new Bacolod Airport within the framework of future longer-term plans.

The study (JICA) found the existing facilities of the old Bacolod Airport insufficient to accommodate even the 1997 volume of air traffic.

The passenger terminal buildings are owned by the airlines operating in the area, and this limited the possibility of other operators using the facilities. In addition, the area surrounding the existing airport has been densely urbanised so that to carry out any significant expansion plan would be difficult, time-consuming and costly.

Finally the study recommended that Bacolod Airport be relocated and a new site was identified in Negros Island, Bagtic, Silay City. The old airport will now be redeveloped for housing and light industrial use.

In February 1999, the Philippine government (through the DOTC) requested that Japan (through JICA) undertake the detailed design study of the selected airport development project. This study was funded by a grant by JICA of ¥430m and was completed in March 2000.

Upon completion, JICA commissioned Pacific Consultants International as project consultants to supervise the project and advise on the design. On 25 August 2003, the proposed new airport was put out to bid-tender and was awarded to the lowest complying bidder, Takenaka-Itochu Joint Venture (TI JV).

CONTRACTORS

The lowest tendered bid for the construction of the new airport was from TI JV, which is comprised of two Japanese engineering and construction companies – Takenaka Corporation and Itochu Corporation (Hanjin Construction were the subcontractors on the project). The project was started with preliminary works in August 2004, but by September 2004 full-scale construction work was underway.

The airport will have a 2,000m runway and will incorporate design specifications on par with an international airport (part of the longer term plans), which will comply with all international standards (500m extension costing 285m Peso will begin construction in January 2008 and will be completed by October 2008).

As previously mentioned, design and supervision will be carried out by Pacific Consultants International (PCI), although detailed design of some of the air traffic control, lighting, meteorological and aviation fuel facilities will be handled solely by TI JV.

TI JV will be responsible for all construction works, including terminal buildings and facilities, special airport buildings and facilities (fire stations and airport services buildings), and all civil engineering work including construction and paving of the main runway and taxiway areas and terminal aprons.

The terminal and other associated administration buildings will be of reinforced concrete (partly steel) structure. The terminal will have three floors and will incorporate three air-bridges designed to accommodate aircraft of a size up to and including the Boeing 737 and the Airbus 330.

The airport site will incorporate 21 buildings with a total floor space of 10,075m² and the total site area including the runway and taxiways totals 187.2ha. The terminal building has a 6,187m² area and also has parking space for 350 cars.

The McKinley access road to the airport (cost 68m Peso to construct) will be completed (widened and lighted) by November 2007 ready for the airport to open in December 2007.

NEW BACOLOD FUTURE PLANS

The carriers that will initially use the new Bacolod Airport include Philippine Airlines, Air Philippines and Cebu Pacific Airways.

In addition, mixed passenger / cargo services will be provided by RG Air Charter Services, Gumayan Air Charter Services and Pacific Airways, while cargo-only service will be provided by Aboitiz Air Transport.

The new airport, which will officially begin operations in December 2007 (airport was thoroughly tested during flying operations conducted in October 2007), is designed to handle over one million passengers and 16,715t of cargo per year. Security equipment such as X-ray equipment which was procured for the new airport was loaned to the old Bacolod airport and have now been transferred and installed at the new airport.

The Philippines government wants to promote a new growth centre for commerce and tourism – the San Carlos Corridor Development Plan – the objective of which is to develop a 45,000ha agro-industrial zone with an integrated satellite micro-city to serve as a gateway linking the capital cities of the Visayas region (San Carlos City, Bacolod, Cebu City and Dumaguete).

The new Bacolod Airport will play an important part in the transportation infrastructure required for the plan.

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