AN official of Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA) said GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. (GMCAC) will finish the construction of passenger Terminal 2 (T2) by March 2018 to cater to more foreign and local tourists.
MCIAA General Manager Steve Dicdican said that they will slowly migrate their systems to T2 to be fully operational by June 2018.
He said this is in anticipation of a consistently increasing number of tourists at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport every year. Terminal 1 (T1) was designed and made operational way back in 1991 for 4.5 million annual airline passengers.
At present, there is an estimated eight million tourists annually, but they cannot accommodate more due to lack of airport facilities.
“Right now, we are not generating as much growth because of the limitation of T1. With the opening of T2, we can now accept more travelers from various countries” Dicdican said.
On the other hand, the MCIAA is continuously planning for the second runway, which will serve as alternate to the existing one.
“We hope to start construction of the second runway, which is also an emergency runway, by this year. The MCIAA will construct that second runway,” Dicdican said.
The construction period for the second runway will be within two years.
The concession of GMCAC is only up to the terminal or landside operations. The MCIAA, on the other hand is in charge of the airside operations that include runway, taxiway and general aviation.
However, he said that GMCAC has submitted an unsolicited proposal to construct a third runway. The MCIAA board will soon grant an “original proponent status,” to GMCAC after its assessment.
He said the GMCAC proposal will cost P210 billion and a 50-year plan, which will be done in phases. But this will be subject to a Swiss challenge.
“We grow the airport as we also grow the market. That’s why we need more terminals and additional runways,” Dicdican said. (EOB)