Dev’t of Camotes, Bantayan airports on

CEBU, Philippines - Initial works for the proposed development of the facilities at the airports of Camotes and Bantayan Islands are underway.

Last week, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) sent a technical team to survey and locate possible aerodromes or airfield from where flight operations take place.

“CAAP has already agreed to work with us, to initiate these things... Both the Department of Tourism and CAAP are very interested in upgrading (airport) facilities in Bantayan and Camotes. You know the potentials of these two islands,” said Nigel Paul Villarete, General Manager of the Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA). MCIAA supervises all airports projects in Cebu Province

The airports in the two islands are considered vital to the province’s tourism efforts since they provide tourists with easy access to Cebu’s top destinations.

Villarete said the matter is being considered as they are also looking at the possibility of relocating the general aviation facilities to northern Cebu.

He disclosed that the traffic forecast has shown lot of increases in flight movements in Mactan in the next decade.

“That’s the reason why we really have to resolve the issue of general aviation. But all of these are speculative as of this time but we are laying the ground works for further upgrading the aviation services in the province of Cebu,” he told reporters.

He made it clear that the provision of the concession agreement, which disallows operation of competing airports exclude those in Bantayan and Camotes Islands that cater only to chartered flights.

The CAAP team evaluation report was submitted to its head office.

“They will determine what will be the possible configuration and what will be the constraints if we build the aerodromes there,” Villarete added.

The report will also be presented before the MCIAA board for further discussion.

The plan on the two island airports was among those brought up during the MCIAA board meeting last Friday.

In that meeting, MCIA also agreed to replicate first the offices and facilities of the Philippine Air Force before demolishing existing structures.

Governor Hilario Davide III said the matter was discussed lengthily during the board meeting at the Capitol yesterday.

He suggested that the contractor of the P800-million replication project should start building structures immediately.

“It’s only logical nga buhaton una ang building. Asa may kabalhinan sa air force. Sayon ra man siguro na tingale. So, we all agreed that the contractors should build first,” he told reporters.

There are 17 structures that would have to be transferred to another area of the Mactan-Benito Ebuen Air Base to pave the way for the construction of the new passenger terminal at the MCIA.

The lot where the PAF’s 17 different structures currently sit was supposed to be turned over to GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corporation (GMCAC) in December 2014 but did not push through.

The consortium won the bidding to construct the new terminal, as well as the development and management of MCIA for 25 years under the concession agreement.  (FREEMAN)