JONG CADION
Chief of reporters
This city’s airport will soon become an International Standard Airport with upgraded navigation aids and facilities that will enable planes to land even in inclement weather, Air Transportation Office (ATO) manager Jose Budiongan, declared during a meeting with the press recently.
What Budiongan meant was that the airfield will shortly be developed so that it can accommodate wide body aircrafts like Airbus 319 and 320 and even C130 military cargo planes.
At present, the airport located in Brgy. Moricay is undergoing rehabilitation, costing P300-million as implemented by the Department of Transportations and Communications (DOTC) and ATO.
The whole amount actually is P515.76-million, with the project divided into two phases.
Phase I, or the initial asphalt overlay of the runway is two-thirds complete while civil works for Phase II is expected to start this month and will end in September 2009.
According to Mindanao Economic Development Council (MEDCo) data, the so-called Pagadian Airport Development Project covers the immediate improvement and upgrading and rehabilitation components of the airport, costing P70-million, and another P446-million for rehabilitation.
“The purpose of the rehabilitation is to have a domestic airport of International Standard,” says Budiongan.
When finished, the airport will be the similar to that of the ongoing Languindingan Airport in Misamis Oriental, which presently passed the standards recommended by International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
The ATO manager adds the city airport, classified as a minor commercial domestic airport by ATO, is the busiest airstrip next to Zamboanga City in terms of traffic volume, based on their culled statistics in the two previous years.
“So, we can say that there is really a market for travel because Ozamiz City first opened flights four times a week and was increased to seven. Most of the passengers boarding there are from here and around ZamboSur,” Budiongan stressed.
It was learned from ATO also that the DOTC project management staff were here two weeks ago and conducted ocular inspections on the site for the construction of support facilities, like the Terminal and the Administration buildings, fire station and control tower.
After all these are finished, the Pagadian City Airport will be upgraded from being a Flight Service Station
The presence of the control tower, which will serve as control zone, will be manned by the Air Traffic Controller, and this airport will then become the center of operations of the other nine airports uner Western Mindanao, Budiongan brags.
He added the airport’s rehabilitation will include runway extension, concreting and the finishing touches.
The airport runway was extended from 1,720 to 2,500 meters, costing P30-million and construction work is almost finished.
Concreting works will start shortly at the runway center with shoulder grade correction, apron, the old taxiway, all costing P50-million.
The construction of the terminal and administration buildings will cost between P13-P18-million, Budiongan disclosed.
“To complete everything for the finishing touches, the city needs more or less P300-million,” Mayor Samuel Co also told MINDANAO MONITOR.
September, last year, President Gloria Arroyo bared her plans for the upgrading and development of this city’s airport during her visit for the 55th Founding Anniversary of the province.
During the opening program and inauguration of the Agro-Tourism & Heritage Complex at Dao, Arroyo announced the airport development program of her administration in this part of the country under the Mindanao Super Region.
The president added another P200-million for Pagadian City’s runway extension project, as part of her commitment to raise infrastructure spendings for roads, bridges, airports and power plants, among others.
A technical report from Malacañang obtained by this paper stated that there are seven airports in Mindanao currently being rehabilitated.
These are the airports of Butuan, Cotabato, Dipolog, Pagadian, Laguindingan in Misamis Oriental, Zamboanga and Ozamiz cities.