Flying high

While in Luzon they’re still wrangling about where to locate a new airport and what to do about upgrading existing facilities (at the NAIA terminals in Manila and at the Clark airport in Pampanga) in the meantime (hey, remember how many years it took just to find common ground for that most un-common train station?), it’s heartening to hear that the construction of the new Mactan Cebu International Airport terminal is more than halfway complete, well on its way to meeting the June 30, 2018 deadline. Engineers are, in fact, optimistic that the 6.5-hectare second terminal could be completed before that date.

In the meantime, since the consortium GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. won in 2014 the first PPP (public-private partnership) project successfully bidded out by the previous administration, it has fixed up and enhanced the existing terminal with, among others, a new baggage handling system, additional x-ray machines for security checks, a new flight information display and, very importantly, new designer restrooms, mobile charging stations and something as simple – but much appreciated by passengers – as water refilling stations beside boarding gates (you empty out your water bottles in order to clear final security check).

The Mactan airport upgrade is, like a lot of other infrastructure needs across the country, long overdue. While airports worldwide anticipate increased traffic way in advance and build or plan to build new runways and terminals long before the need arises, we seem to do so only when congestion has set in, terminals and runways operate on over-capacity and long queues are a regular and infuriating occurrence.

Mactan Cebu is the country’s second busiest airport. Last year, passenger traffic reached nearly nine million (8.93 million to be exact). Six international carriers began flying in to and out of Cebu in 2016. Airlines already servicing the city increased frequencies as well as added new domestic and international routes. In total, the end of 2016 saw 19 airlines flying to 14 international and 26 domestic destinations from Cebu, recording 11.5 million seats.

All those numbers attest to the vibrancy of Mactan Cebu as the gateway to central Philippines. The completion of the new terminal will bring capacity to 13 million passengers a year, ready for the hoped-for surge in the number of tourist arrivals to the country. The terminal design calls to mind the banca and, true to that vision, a lot of wood will be used to enhance the tropical/resort feel of the airport. To ensure that the terminal will not turn out to be just another modern airport – which it will be – internationally acclaimed Cebuano designer Kenneth Cobonpue – along with the team of Budji Layug and Royal Pineda – has been tapped to infuse the building with Filipino elements and highlight Cebuano culture and heritage.

Hopefully the opening of that terminal will shame national authorities into getting its act together for a new international gateway in Manila.