CALBAYOG CITY- The national government will send a team to this city this month to further study the plan to redevelop the city airport after Philippine Airlines’ top management asked President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to upgrade the airport’s facility.
City Mayor Mel Senen Sarmiento said one of the tasks of the group is to come up with costings required for the project.
The request was made on the airport here following the inaugural flight of PAL Express here Tuesday morning, 10 years after it ceased its operation in Samar province.
In his talk with Arroyo, PAL President Jaime Bautista said that the airport needs repair to pave a way for expansion of PAL and other airlines in the future.
These measures include the asphalt overlay of the runway extension, installation of runway lights, expansion of the turning pad, and setting-up of perimeter concrete fencing.
For the passenger terminal, the enhancements include the installation of a baggage carousel, x-ray machine and walk-through metal detectors. Modern air-to-ground communications equipment was also needed, Bautista said.
“We have sought the support of the President for a much needed upgrade of Calbayog Airport in order for it to handle the operation of jet aircraft. She said that she will seriously look at it,” the PAL executive said in a media interview.
In a brief interaction with the media prior to the plane's arrival, Arroyo welcomed PAL’s move to include Calbayog in their routes.
“The coming of PAL is an assurance that Samar is peaceful. I am here to see what else we can do in Samar in terms of infrastructure development,” Arroyo told the media.
It was learned that the President instructed Reuben Ciron, newly appointed director-general of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, and Calbayog City Mayor Mel Sarmiento, concurrent chair of the Regional Development Council in Region 8, to look into the request of PAL for urgent improvements to Calbayog airport.
PAL first flew to Calbayog in 1958; the city was among the flag carrier’s pioneer destinations. PAL last operated there in 1998 when its rehabilitation plan obligated it to focus only on major trunk routes.
“We were the first airline to fly to Calbayog back in 1958. Now, we hope to take Calbayog’s development to a higher level with our new PAL Express service. We are committed to provide affordable air service to the many far flung island communities of our country,” Bautista added.
Constructed in 1970’s, the airport’s runway has a length of 1,476 meters. Under the plan, the local government wants to extend the runway into another 200 meters and thicken the runway.
“The embankment is now ready. We just need funds to start the expansion. Our goal is to meet the international requirement of the runway to accommodate bigger aircraft in the future,” said Sarmiento.
“We’re expecting that passenger traffic will increase tremendously with the entry of PAL in the city. It will encourage more people to come. Accessibility and frequency is very important,” the city mayor said.
PAL Express flight PR 091 from Manila, served by a Bombardier Q400 turbo-propeller aircraft, landed at Calbayog airport 10:10 a.m. on Tuesday after a one-hour-and-20-minute journey from Manila. The flight carried 48 passengers.
Among them are Bautista, PAL’s deputy chief executive officer Henry So Uy, Canadian Ambassador Robert Desjardins and Leyte 1st District Representative Ferdinand Martin Romualdez.
Apart from Calbayog, which is served with four flights weekly, PAL Express also launches on the same day separate daily services from Manila to San Jose (Occidental Mindoro), Virac (Catanduanes) and Surigao City (Surigao del Norte).
This city now has daily flight with Asian Spirit flying three times a week. PAL Express will also launch the Manila-Catarman flight next month in Northern Samar.
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