THE BANGSAMORO Airport Authority (BAA) will start handling the passenger terminal operations of four airports in the region by Jan. 1, the regional government said on Thursday.
BAA head Carmencita O. Salik, in a statement from the regional information office, said they held their first meeting with airport concessionaires and other business operators on Dec. 14 to discuss the new management policies and guidelines.
“Today is our first concessionaires and stakeholders meeting because we want to inform them that starting January 1, all landside operations will be turned over to the MOTC-BARMM,” she said.
She was referring to the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao’s Ministry of Transportation and Communications. The BAA is an attached agency of the ministry.
The landside operations cover the passenger terminal building, administrative building, parking area, and other facilities or areas that are not restricted or not part of air navigational facilities.
The national government, through the Civil Aviations Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), will continue to handle airside operations, as stipulated under Republic Act No. 11054 or the Bangsamoro Organic Law.
Six airports owned and managed by CAAP were formally turned over to the Bangsamoro government in September through a memorandum of agreement.
Under the agreement, CAAP transferred all the properties, assets, powers, and functions pertaining to the landside management of operational airports in Cotabato, Sanga-Sanga, Jolo, and Mapun, as well as the non-operational airports in Malabang and Wao.
Ms. Salik said with BAA’s takeover, all concessionaires and other business owners inside the airports will have to apply again as a new entity.
“All applications will be treated as new,” she said.
Based on the new guidelines, interested parties need to submit the following requirements: letter of intent, business plan and company profile, application form, business permit, location, certificate of good standing from previous concessionaires in charge, and clearance from the airport manager. — MSJ