Panglao airport to serve public next month

CEBU, Philippines —  The Bohol Panglao International Airport will start serving the public next month.

Engr. Edgardo Mangalili, Department of Transportation project engineer of the airport, said that as June 21, 2018, the airport is 90 percent complete.

He added the opening of the airport will surely bring in more tourists and spur economic development in the province.

The airport was supposed to be completed sometime in December of last year but was somehow delayed.

 Among the reasons that caused the delay were the inclement weather conditions, delayed importation of materials and equipment, site acquisition and preparatory activities for future additional works.

The opening of the new airport, which is about 223 hectares, will lead to the closure of the 27-hectare Tagbilaran Airport.

Initially, the new airport will have no night flights as the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines still has to design the approach procedure.  This also needs to be validated although the Instrument Landing System can be installed immediately.

"Maybe mga six months pa (after the start of the operation) saka na may night flights," Mangalili said during the airport tour briefing.

He said that by July 1, airline companies will start coming in.

The new airport costs around P10.8 billion including the proposed P1.91 billion additional works covering the construction of a cargo terminal, fuel depot and hydrant system, 300-meter extension of the runway and parallel highway.

Glenn Soco, chairman of the Infrastructure and Development Council of the Regional Development Council-7, in his presentation during its Full Council Meeting in Bohol on Friday said that the cargo terminal will be constructed to address the limited cargo handling capacity experienced in the existing Tagbilaran airport due to one aircraft policy, absence of cargo storage space and limited turnaround time.

Soco added that the fuel depot and hydrant system will cater to the refueling of long-haul international flights within reasonable turnaround time.

He said that the 300-meter-extension of the runway is to accommodate A-330-300, B777-300er and B787 aircrafts.

The parallel taxiway will serve as a queueing space for diverting aircrafts from other airports.

Mangalili said that since the construction of the cargo terminal is still a proposal, airline companies have agreed that they will construct a temporary cargo terminal on their own.

The airport can accommodate seven aircrafts at one time with an expected 3.4 million passengers a year. — MBG (FREEMAN)