GENERAL Santos City International Airport is set to get a major facelift worth P40 million which is likely to start in the next two months.

This would be the first major improvement for the facility since it started operations 13 years ago, a top local airport official said last week.

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Nathaniel Y. Nazareno, Civil Aviation Authority (CAA)-General Santos chief, said the bidding process for the rehabilitation of the airport in General Santos City has started and results are expected within 30 days.

"There's really a need to upgrade our facility to cope up with the growing number of air travelers, and to comply with international aviation standards," he said.

Nazareno told BusinessWorld that the airport's facilities have deteriorated much due to inappropriate funds from the National Government.

The airport opened on July 6, 1996, with construction works mostly funded by the United States Agency for International Development.

"Even the CR [comfort room] was built using the US standard and we have a hard time keeping up its maintenance because of lack of funds," the aviation official said.

The airport facility gets some P2 million monthly for its upkeep, including allocation for personnel salary, Nazareno said, adding that they have not increased the P40 terminal fee charged to flyers that could help in improving airport facilities.

Major international airports in the country such as Manila, Cebu and Davao have been charging P200 terminal fee for domestic travelers.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said during her visit in nearby Koronadal City last week that renovation works at the airport in General Santos City would cost about P121 million.

Some P40 million of that was included in the 2009 budget of the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) and the P81 million would be included in the department's 2010 budget, the President revealed.

Nazareno said the P40 million would be used to expand the floor area of the passenger terminal and the perimeter fence of the airport as part of the security precautions.

He added that passenger volume has significantly increased in the last three years due to more flights offered by Air Philippines and Cebu Pacific Air.

In 2006, those flying in totaled 104,647 and 104,949 flying out passengers; in 2006, 150,757 passengers flew in and 156,694 passengers flew out; and in 2008, those flying in reached 162,655 and 166,697 flying out. In January to May this year, 80,296 passengers arrived in the airport and 84,925 flew out from the city, data from the local aviation authority showed.

"The [check-in counter] floor area is not anymore adequate to the present passenger traffic," he noted.

Long queues have become a common sight at the airport's check-in quarters as of late, this reporter has seen.

Nazareno said there's a need to improve the navigational equipment of the airport in compliance with aviation standards required of international airports in the country. He urged Congress to approve the propose budget of P81 million next year for the airport's modernization.

Late in 2007, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) downgraded the Philippines’ aviation safety from Category 1 to Category 2 due to serious concerns about the Air Transportation Office’s oversight of air carrier operations.

Category 2 indicates that the FAA has assessed the government's aviation authority as not being in compliance with the International Civil Aviation Organization safety standards. (BSS)