TO PREPARE for the influx of tourists expected to flock to Bohol, Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc. teamed up with Irish airport operations company daa International for the future upgrade, expansion, operations and maintenance of the Bohol-Panglao International Airport.

Aboitiz InfraCapital was recently granted “original proponent status” for its unsolicited proposals to upgrade, expand, operate and maintain the Panglao airport.

daa International is the global airport operations management subsidiary of Ireland’s Dublin Airport Authority and operates Ireland’s main gateway Dublin Airport, which accommodates about 31 million passengers, and the Cork Airport, a regional airport which can accommodate 2.3 million passengers, which is similar to the Philippines’ own regional airports.

The Panglao airport was inaugurated in November 2018 and replaced the Tagbilaran airport.

Airport consultant ICF noted that tourism in Bohol has grown at an annual rate of 25.2 percent from 2011 to 2017, and by 30 percent from 2016 to 2017, reaching an estimated 1.3 million tourists.

Panglao welcomed 704,000 tourists in 2017.

The airport was also dubbed the country’s first eco-airport.

Aboitiz InfraCapital with daa International will also work on the Laguindingan Airport in Laguindingan, Misamis Oriental. (JOB WITH PR)