GMCAC to build 400-room hotel
GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. (GMCAC), the operator of Mactan-Cebu International Airport, announced yesterday its plan to build a 400-room transit hotel.
Construction of the hotel, according to GMCAC chief executive advisor Andrew Harrison, will start by first quarter of next year and the project is expected to be completed by 2021.
At present, Harrison said, the airport developer is still looking for the right hotel chain partner to manage the property.
The 400-room transit hotel is seen to aid the accommodation shortage in Cebu, as the number of tourists consistently grows, specifically with the opening of Terminal 2.
Compared to its contemporary destinations like Bali in Indonesia, Cebu is too far behind in terms of hotel rooms.
At present, Cebu only has 10,500 hotel beds. Bali, on the other hand, has over 50,000 beds.
On Monday, GMCAC, in partnership with Aerotel, will open an 11-room “Nap and Shower” facility at T2. It will be the first facility offered by Hong Kong-based Plaza Premium Group (PPG).
Aerotel is a premium airport transit hotel which offers passengers easy accommodation while traveling.
Located at the second level of the new terminal, it offers nine single rooms and two double-plus rooms, complete with writing table and chair, and cable TV.
MCIA TARGET
Meanwhile, there's no other way but up for MCIA as the country's second busiest air hub looks to cater about 29 million passengers with the projected traffic buildup seen moving forward.
Harrison said that both Terminal 1 and 2 will be expanded in terms of capacity by 2024 to be able to hit the passenger arrival target.
The private operator hopes to get the concession to build a third terminal, projected to start by 2035, but Harrison said construction might start earlier by 2027 if traffic demand calls for it.
“By 2024, we need to expand the airport further so that it can have a capacity of 29 million," Harrison said.
Renovation of half of Terminal 1, which handles domestic operators, is ongoing and will be completed by June next year.
It will take another six months for GMCAC, a consortium between Filipino firm Megawide Construction and India's GMR Infrastructure Ltd., to renovate the rest part of the domestic terminal.
Harrison noted the consortium has also planned to make all terminals uniform in design in the future.
He also pointed out GMCAC may advance the construction of Terminal 3 once the government approves it and if there would be a demand. Construction of T3 may cost not less than P10 billion.
He said GMCAC spent P17.3 billion to build T2 and renovate T1.
In June last year, GMR-Megawide submitted a P208-billion unsolicited proposal to the government
JOY TORREJOS
to further develop MCIA.
The proposal intends to take over the airside facilities of the airport currently owned by the government-led MCIA Authority as well as to expand the airport to have a capacity of at least 50 million passengers per year.
Under the proposal, the expansion will be undertaken in three phases, with the first involving the rehabilitation of MCIA's existing runway and taxiways; construction of an additional parallel taxiway to serve as emergency runway; and the development of additional rapid exit taxiways and runway holding positions, upon takeover of the airside facilities.
The second phase will involve the construction of a second parallel and independent runway, while the third and final phase is the building of a third terminal for additional passengers.
Based on the study by the company, passenger traffic in Cebu will reach about 28 million passenger per year in 2039, a projected traffic similar to major Asian airports such as Singapore, New Delhi and Kuala Lumpur, among others.
Once completed, MCIA will emerge as the first Philippine airport with two parallel independent runways.