A subsidiary of Terra Group will be responsible for the design, financing, construction, and maintenance and operation of the International Airport at Palmerola.
From a press release issued by the Commission for the Promotion of Public-Private Partnerships:
The Commission for the Promotion of Public Private Partnerships (COALIANZA) has awarded to Constructora de Servicios Aeroportuarios Integrados S.A.(SAISA), the Contract for the Design, Financing, Construction, Maintenance and Operation of Palmerola International Airport, which will be located in the city of Comayagua, on the road axis between Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula.
The company which is already operating other airports in Honduras was the only one to provide a technical and financial proposal for the award.
The Honduran company Servicios Aeroportuarios Integrados S.A. (Saisa), a subsidiary of Terra Group, submitted the technical and financial offer after being shortlisted along with the consortium of Colombian origin Concay SA, who ultimately decided not to present a proposal for the construction of the new terminal.
After a process that has gone on for several years in Honduras the start of the opening of bids for the concession of the international airport in Comayagua has begun.
Laprensa.hn reports: "The Commission for the Promotion of Public-Private Partnerships (Coalianza) announced the opening of public hearings for the contract with an investor interested in building Palmerola international airport."
The opening of bids for Palmerola, scheduled for November, has been postponed at the request of two of the companies interested in building the airport.
"The deadline for Palmerola was put back to late September at the request of one of the bidders, but we have had a request from another bidder who is asking for more time. We will evaluate if indeed it is worth extending the deadline, which could be moved to November," said Jose Antonio Pineda, chief of the Commission for the Promotion of Public-Private Partnerships (Coalianza).
The airfield in Rio Amarillo will be put out to tender later this month, and the bidding process for Palmerola Airport will take place on September.
Laprensa.hn reports: "The National Congress recently approved a trust agreement to build an airfield at Rio Amarillo, Santa Rita, Copán, about 18 kilometers from Las Ruinas, the Mayan resort town in the west.
Eight companies from five countries have shown interest in the tender to build an international airport at the Palmerola military base.
"The tender process began in March and has lasted for five months," said Jose Pineda, a spokesman for the Commission for the Promotion of Public-Private Partnerships. "We need Palmerola because we have the worst airport facilities in Central America, limiting Honduras' economic development," he said.
The company of Chinese origin, Harbour Engineering Company, has acquired the requirements to participate in the tender for the construction of Palmerola airport.
This company is the sixth to present itself before the Promotion of Public-Private Partnerships (Coalianza) to purchase the tender specifications for the project that will cost about $130 million in its first stage.
The Spanish consultancy company ALG is advising the Government of Honduras on the economic model and the contest rules for awarding Palmerola to a private operator.
Laprensa.hn reports that failure to reach an agreement with InterAirports has meant the resumption of the process "to define the economic model, how the bidding will be conducted and the nature of the contract between the state and the company that will finally take over the project. "
In the event of not reaching an agreement with the current concessionaire, the government of Honduras is planning alternatives.
The Commission for the Promotion of Public-Private Partnerships (Coalianza) has a period of 10 days in which to reach an agreement with InterAirports SA (IASA) on the renegotiation of the technical and financial model for the construction of Palmerola, which they have been unable to finalize for the last five months.
The extension of the contract with Airports of Honduras until 2040 is subject to a $300 million investment including the construction of a new terminal at Palmerola.
The current contract is for 25 years and expires in 2020, the extension until 2040 must be submitted to the Honduran Congress for approval.
Public Works Minister, Miguel Pastor told the press, "We want an international airport in Comayagua (Palmerola) that does not have the problems of size and safety that Toncontin (Tegucigalpa) has, and for this, investment is being made in improving the road network to the area and facilitating the flow of trade and passengers. But we do not have the resources to build the new airport and with the concession we are able to do that. "