Saying the Puerto Rico Ports Authority has the authority to lease the Luis Muñoz Marín Airport in San Juan to Aerostar Airport Holdings, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration confirmed its approval of the public-private partnership that will officially transfer control of the facility to the consortium.
The Puerto Rico House of Representatives wrapped up nearly a month of probing the terms of the public-private partnership agreement proposed for the Luis Muñoz Marín Airport Monday with a scathing report that shoots down any benefit to the deal through which the government would turn over the management of the facility to a private operator.
The Federal Aviation Administration announced Friday it is considering eliminating the overnight shift of air traffic control tower operators at Luis Muñoz Marín Airport in early April as part of a plan to reduce its expenditures by approximately $600 million for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2013.
Puerto Rico Ports Authority Executive Director Víctor Suárez said Tuesday the Federal Aviation Administration has been “rigorously evaluating” the proposed public-private partnership deal for the Luis Muñoz Marín International airport because “everything they express will become precedent.”
In about a week, the Federal Aviation Administration is expected to make its decision on the public-private partnership agreement through which the government of Puerto Rico would turn over the management of the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport to Aerostar Airport Holdings for the next 40 years.
If the Puerto Rico government were to walk away from the public-private partnership that turns over the responsibility of managing and operating the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport to Aerostar Holdings, it would have to compensate the consortium with as much as $8 million for its troubles, according to the 40-year lease agreement signed earlier this year.
While dozens of representatives from the public, private and labor sectors asked for a turn to speak during last Friday’s Federal Aviation Administration-sponsored hearing on the proposal to transfer the operation of Puerto Rico’s main airport facility, the Luis Muñoz Marín Airport, out of the government’s hands, others have opted to go online to express their thoughts on the historic transaction.
The U.S. Congress has approved the Federal Aviation Administration Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, which includes an amendment presented by Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi to guarantee equal treatment for Puerto Rico’s airports with respect to federal funding.
Citing damages caused following the passing of Tropical Storm Emily, Port Authority Executive Director Alberto Escudero announced Thursday the Federal Aviation Administration’s decision to close the air-traffic control tower at the Fernando Ribas Dominicci airport in Isla Grande.
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