Nine companies with Spanish, American, Canadian and Korean capital have submitted preliminary bids for the construction of the airport in the tourist area of Cabo Rojo, Pedernales, whose public tender will be launched on the 20th of this November.
The information was provided by Sigmund Freund, executive director of the General Directorate of Public-Private Partnerships, in an interview with the Spanish newspaper "Cinco Días".
The Spanish companies Acciona and OHLA are seeking to win the bid, while the other companies were not mentioned in the article in the aforementioned newspaper.
“A total of nine bids have been submitted. Besides Acciona and OHLA, US, Canadian, and Korean groups have also expressed interest,” the article quotes the Dominican official as saying
The bidding process for the airport, which will have a 3-kilometer runway and will be located in the municipality of Oviedo, 15 minutes by road from the new tourist destination, starts on November 20.
“The project deadlines are being met. Construction is scheduled to begin at the end of January 2024, and the projected completion date is December 2025,” emphasizes Freund, who highlights that once operational, the airport anticipates an annual demand of 250,000 passengers, a figure that will gradually increase to one million travelers by 2042, making it the third busiest airport in the country. To accommodate the increased air and passenger traffic, the plan includes the construction of a second runway and a second terminal.
The Dominican Republic government has a 66% stake in the consortium, Freund confirmed, due to the significant cost assumed in contributing the land where the hotels, shopping center and other areas of interest will be built.
Land sales will take place in a second phase
The official stated that the nine hotels to be built in the first phase of the Cabo Rojo-Pedernales project will be owned by the Dominican State, which will then lease their operation to six hotel chains. The American chain Hyatt will have the largest presence, with three hotels under the Dreams, Secrets, and Ziba brands, followed by Karisma, also American (with two hotels under the Margaritaville and Nickelodeon brands), and the Canadian chain Sunwing (with two hotels under the Blue Diamond and Royalton brands). Iberostar will be the only Spanish chain, the statement specifies.
