In a chance interview with reporters, Ayala chief financial officer Delfin Gonzalez revealed that the company is planning to bid for the right to operate the Laguindingan International Airport being built in Misamis Oriental.

The airport, a P7.8-billion project under the Aquino administration’s Private Public Partnership (PPP) program, will be the first international air gateway in northern Mindanao and will service Cagayan de Oro City and neighboring areas.  

“We are looking at possibly participating in that project so it can help spur the development of the adjoining areas,” Gonzalez said, referring to the operations and maintenance contract for Laguindingan Airport.

Ayala is targeting additional synergies as the airport sits on a 393-hectare property which was partly donated by the conglomerate, he said.  

“We own 500 hectares around the airport,” Gonzalez said without providing additional details on Ayala’s plans for the area.

Ayala Corp. is present in real estate, banking, telecommunications, water utility and electronics manufacturing. It had a market value of P176.9 billion as of Friday’s trading, when its shares rose 2.13 percent to P306.4 each.

Transportation and Communications Secretary Manuel Roxas II said last week that the contract to operate and maintain Laguindingan Airport will be bid out to the private sector by the first quarter of 2012.  

The airport can accommodate 1.2 million passengers per year, data from the PPP center website showed. Roxas said Laguindingan airport will be completed by the end of next year.

Ayala’s plan reflects a growing trend among Philippine conglomerates seeking opportunities in the domestic transport sector amid aggressive targets by the government to boost tourist arrivals to 6 million visitors by 2016, up from 3.45 million last year. 

San Miguel Corp. (SMC) and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. already announced plans to participate in potential auctions for prime air gateways such as Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Metro Manila and Diosdado Macapagal Internatioanl Airport in the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga.

SMC, which operates the Caticlan Airport near Boracay Island, separately revealed plans to bid for airport contracts in Bohol, the Caraga area in northeast Mindanao and Puerto Princesa in Palawan.

JG Summit Holdings Inc., owner of the Philippines’ biggest budget airliner Cebu Pacific, may also bid for government airport projects, company president Lance Gokongwei said earlier.  

Meanwhile, Ayala has been expanding its presence in other infrastructure projects.

For power, the company has sealed joint venture deals for renewable energy sources like solar and wind power. In June, it closed an agreement with Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corp. to build a 135-megawatt (MW) thermal plant in Batangas.

Gonzalez said the company is targeting to add 200 MW of new capacity every year to hit its goal of 1,000 MW in five years.

Ayala is also bidding for the Daang Hari-South Luzon Expressway, the first scheduled project under the government’s PPP program.  

In Photo: Facade of the existing airport in Cagayan de Oro