BANTAYAN airport's runway will be expanded in order to accommodate bigger commercial planes, an airport official said on Wednesday, July 12, 2023.
Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA) General Manager Julius Neri confirmed to SunStar Cebu that the Cebu Provincial Government supports the extension of Bantayan airport's runway from 1.2 kilometers to 1.5 kilometers.
The runway extension would approximately take less than a year, longer if needed for the upgrade to go smoothly, Neri said.
"We are going to work on it as fast as possible. Our engineering group will have to study the specifics for the extension, they'll have to measure, fill, everything that needs to be done to make sure that it is compliant with the standard," he said.
The runway extension is still in the planning stage and a tripartite agreement will be signed in August between the Cebu Provincial Government, MCIAA and GMR, Sugbo News, the Cebu Capitol media arm, reported on Tuesday, July 11, 2023.
Neri has not specified as to when will be the start of the construction works.
In a meeting with Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia on July 11, Neri said that the current runway can only accommodate smaller planes and extension will be needed for bigger planes from commercialized airlines to land on the airport.
Garcia promised to acquire more properties around the airport's premises for the planned extension, which currently sits on the lot owned by the Cebu Provincial Government.
Once the runway is finished and cleared as operational, major airlines, including Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines, will be able to operate in the airport.
As of Wednesday, July 12, there are currently no airlines operating at the Bantayan airport. Only Air Juan had operated in before the pandemic.
Neri said Air Juan has expressed interest in restarting its operations in the airport.
Commercialization
The Bantayan airport is currently categorized as a community airport, Neri said.
To transform the airport into a commercial one, Neri said that firefighting and medical facilities will be added in the future, adding that they are also eyeing to add more facilities that would comply with requirements for the airport's commercialization.
International flights are still a long way to be incorporated in the airport, but Neri saw it as a possibility.
"It's not in our plans within the immediate future, but there's definitely a possibility. Once the airport is finally highly commercialized and is compliant with international standards, then international flights are a go," he said. (Miguel Angelu Lumen, CNU Intern)