In August 2013, the South Korean Incheon Airport consortium won the tender for the contract to build Hanthawaddy International Airport in Bago Region, with another consortium comprising of Singapore’s Changi Airport Group, Yongnam Holdings Ltd and Japan’s JGC Corporation selected as the backup.
However, the DCA recently invited the Singaporean group to “re-enter negotiations” for the project because of problems with Incheon’s proposal, the official said on February 5.
The conflict comes as the Incheon Airport consortium has been pushing to change certain aspects of the project, including the operating capacity of the airport, a planning official tied to the project has said.
“We haven’t yet decided which consortium will do the project,” the official said. “First we announced that South Korea’s Incheon Airport consortium was selected to build and operate the airport but … their proposal didn’t actually meet our requirements.”
“We recently invited Yongnam to re-enter negotiations but it doesn’t mean we cancelled the proposal submitted by Incheon Airport consortium … We want to also see the proposal from the Singaporean consortium.
“This is why we also announced backup companies from the start. I would like to say this is an ongoing process and we don’t know who will take the bid for the project at the moment. We will make an official announcement when the results come out,” he said.
On February 4, Yongnam said in a statement that its consortium had been asked by the DCA to enter negotiations on the design, construction, operation and maintenance of Hanthawaddy International Airport and its facilities. The airport will be built under a public-private partnership with a 30-year concession period.
The Hanthawaddy contract was the largest of three awarded on August 10 to private companies by the Ministry of Transport’s Tender Selection Committee.
Located on a 9000-acre (3642-hectare) site about 77 kilometres (48 miles) northeast of Yangon near Bago, Hanthwaddy was first slated for development in the early 1990s. Work began in March 1994 but ceased in October 2003.
Despite its distance from the city, the site was considered the most suitable among a shortlist of nine.
The DCA had planned for construction to begin in June 2013 for a December 2016 completion date, but it was postponed as negotiations with the winning consortium had not concluded.
The airport will be capable of handling up to 10 million passengers a year, well above Yangon International Airport’s current capacity of 2.7 million.
However, by 2015 Yangon International Airport will have been upgraded to accept 6 million passengers. Pioneer Aerodrome Services, a Myanmar company linked to conglomerate Asia World, won the tender to renovate the airport. The Yongnam-CAPE-JGC consortium was also selected as the backup.
Japan-based Mitsubishi Corporation was selected to renovate Mandalay International Airport, with France-based VINCI Airports selected as the backup company.
“They are working on drafting the contract agreements,” the official said. “After they have submitted them, we will review whether or not their contract agreements meet the requirements and then proceed as necessary.”
The project, having been on the table now for several years, has drawn mixed reviews from industry experts, who heralded efforts to build a modern airport in Myanmar, while also criticizing Hanthawaddy for its inconvenient location.
“We definitely need another international-standard airport since visitor numbers in Yangon are increasing rapidly,” said Daw Phyu Phyu Mar, managing director of Seven Star Tours in Yangon, adding that the highway linking Yangon to the airport would have to be upgraded.
Daw Aye Mra Tha, public relations manager at Myanmar Airways International (MAI), echoed those thoughts, but said a new airport in Hanthawaddy would also cost passengers a lot of time.
“Normally passengers need to check in 2 hours before the departure time and from Yangon to Bago would take at least 1.5 hours to drive,” she said.
“I know this is the best site among others but I think it is a pretty long drive from Yangon.”
source: The Myanmar Times
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