AIRLINES will be allowed to operate domestic flights to and from Francisco Bangoy International Airport (FBIA), also known as the Davao International Airport, starting June 8 as requested by the City Government of Davao.
Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (Caap)-Davao airport manager Rex Obcena said Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio requested the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to allow them to delay the resumption of airport operations.
"Based on her request which was sent to [DOTr] Secretary [Arthur] Tugade, the [Davao] City Government will be accommodating domestic commercial flights starting June 8," he said.
For international commercial flights, he said Duterte-Carpio requested it to be suspended until the state of calamity is lifted.
"However, if the suspension is approved, the Mayor requested DOTr through Caap to resume international flights on June 22," Obcena said, quoting the letter request of the city mayor.
He said although he has yet to receive a response from the mayor or from the DOTr, they will cooperate and collaborate with the city government.
Obcena said among the reasons raised by the mayor was that land transportation going to other parts of the region is not yet ready.
"Gispecify pud ni ni mayor sa iyang (She specified in her) letter that the LTFRB (Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board) has not resumed the (operations of) vans and bus routes going outside of Davao Region," he said.
"Given this, naay possibility nga katong mga non-residents of Davao (City) or katong nagatransit lang dinhi going to neighboring regions matanggong diri because wala pa man fully nagresume pud ang mga land travel to and from their places (There is a possibility that nonresidents of Davao City will be stranded for lack of options for land travel going to their places)," he added.
According to him, the mayor also noted in her letter that local government units in other provinces "need time to prepare for their airport pickup initiative since there is still limited mass transportation in the city and within Davao Region."
He said the mayor will resolve the issues with the City Government of Davao, the LTFRB, and the LGUs.
"That is why we came up with June 8 nga resumption, although gradual," he said.
He said the airline companies were also cooperative with the decision of the mayor and understood the health emergency in the country.
Obcena said the agency will soon craft flight schedules and consult it with the airline companies.
"We will be calling for the domestic air carriers to have a consensus-building with them. Kumbaga dapat equitably distributed atong mga schedule sa ilaha dinhi sa atong mga airport (The schedules of their flights to the airport should be equally distributed among them)," he said.
He added other LGUs with airports have also requested for suspension from DOTr.
During an interview on 87.5 Davao City Disaster Radio on Monday, June 1, 2020, Duterte-Carpio said the city has already put in place measures to prepare for the resumption of flights.
The mayor said the City Government wanted to require people flying out of the Davao International Airport to undergo health screening to ensure that individuals boarding their flights are free from Covid-19.
She also said the City Government made the same proposal to DOTr, considering that it is more difficult to conduct contact-tracing if ever one passenger later turns out positive of the disease.
"During sa discussion namo, niingon ang doctor, kung diri ta mag-check ang mahitabo ana kung duna'y positive, mahurot ka-quarantine ang mga airport employees and pati mga airline crew. Nagsulti ang doctor dapat daw ang testing should be done before departure dili upon arrival (During our discussion, the doctors told us that if the screening is done at the airport upon arrival, we would risk our manpower if we keep on putting airport staff and airline crew under quarantine. Testing must be done before departure and not upon arrival)," she said.
Under her proposal, she screening of a passenger should be done a day or three before the scheduled flight.
Meanwhile, the LTFRB has allowed limited bus routes, which started servicing the public beginning June 1.
Davao City Overland Transport Terminal (Dcott) Manager Aisa Usop said the LTFRB approved 13 bus routes and can be availed on a first-come, first-served basis.
"Gifollow gihapon nato ang 50 percent because of the social distancing," she said.
She, however, said that buses were not be able to cater to all the passengers who flocked Dcott during the first day of implementation.
"Remember that we can only accommodate 25 to 28 passengers per bus per trip per day per route so napuno gyud dayon ang mga buses (it was easily filled with passengers)," she said.
"We informed the bus operators nga kuhaon tong mga pangalan sa naglinya para sila na pud ang mahimong priority nga musakay the next day (We asked the bus operators to list the names of those who queued to be prioritized in the next day)," she added. (With reports from Ralph Lawrence G. Llemit)