End of an era

EYES WIDE OPEN

- IRIS GONZALES

A round this time some seven years ago, or maybe more, I landed at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) and quickly caught a somnambulant spell. I found myself in what seemed like the set-up of a horror movie - Train to Busan maybe, or some other dystopian film. Why so? Around the airport, in between the conveyor belts for instance, I saw life-size horror statues, dolls and replicas of mostly mythical creatures distinct to the Philippines-aswang engkanto, tikbalang and what-have-you.

It was Halloween, after all, and the airport's concessionaire at the time, the Megawide and GMR consortium, wanted it to be a fun airport. And fun it was.

Passengers were taking selfies with the monsters. Yet, it was also more than fun. MCIA transformed into a clean, efficient and world-class gateway, something Filipinos were happy about and proud of.

Megawide, led by tycoon Edgar Saavedra, together with their partner GMR, redeveloped the airport and the result was an award-winning gateway-Best PPP Project from organizations such as Project Finance International and EuroMoney-IJ Global; commendations in Airline Marketing from Routes Asia and Asia Pacific Regional Airport of the Year from the CAPA Center for Aviation.

Saavedra's airport team, led by Louie Ferrer, then president of GMR Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. (GMCAC), made significant improvements, including the construction of a new terminal with an iconic arched timber roof.

The group won the P17.5-billion airport project in 2014, during the Aquino administration.

Fast-forward to today, ten years after. The GMR Megawide-led MCIA era has come to an end as the Aboitiz Group takes full ownership of GMCAC.