THE passenger terminal building of the Laguindingan Airport in Misamis Oriental, northern Mindanao will be expanded to accommodate 70 percent more passengers by 2024, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said last month as it recognized the need to serve the airport’s increasing ridership.
Work on the expansion will start this December and be completed in six months.
“With the completion of the innovative expansion project, Laguindingan Airport will increase its pre-departure terminal capacity to 860 persons from 500 persons,” CAAP said in a statement.
Laguindingan Airport, Mindanao’s second busiest airport after the Davao International Airport, serves the cities of Cagayan de Oro, Iligan, and Marawi, as well as the provinces of Misamis Oriental, Bukidnon, and Lanao del Norte.
The airport served 2.3 million passengers in 2019, the CAAP said.
CAAP said the expansion project will involve a modular design concept using converted materials, which has been successfully implemented at the Borongan Airport in Eastern Samar.
The agency described the modular expansion using pre-fabricated structural steel as a cost-effective and flexible way to build rapidly while also reducing demand for new building materials.
There are also plans to expand the passenger terminal building of the Davao International Airport (DIA).
Earlier this year, CAAP said the P700 million expansion of DIA’s terminal building would begin in June or July 2023 and be completed by June 2025.
Last April, DIA manager Rex Obcena said the airport served 4.2 million passengers in 2019, even if its design capacity was only 1.2 million passengers.
With the expansion, Obcena hopes the DIA will be able to accommodate an additional 1.3 million passengers annually.