ILOILO – The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines in Iloilo (CAAP-Iloilo) is unsure when would commercial flights resume at the Iloilo Airport.
Commercial flights to and from Iloilo were suspended in March this year when the community quarantine was enforced to curb the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
CAAP-Iloilo terminal supervisor Art Parreño told Panay News they extended to June 15 the NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) reiterating the closure of the airport.
This was in line with Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr.’s Executive Order No. 128 restricting travel – including air travel – in the province until June 15 which is the last day of the modified general community quarantine against the spread of COVID-19, said Parreño.
So, would commercial flights at the Iloilo Airport resume by June 16?
Parreño was unsure. He said it would depend on the decision of the provincial government.
He cited the guidelines released by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases giving local government units (LGU) the discretion to decide when to reopen airports in their turfs.
When asked the same question on June 4, Defensor replied, “I don’t know when it will resume.”
Should commercial flights resume, he said they should prioritize returning overseas Filipino workers and locally stranded individuals.
He also said, “As of now, we don’t expect any tourists.”
Iloilo province continue to receive returning Ilonggo overseas workers stranded in Metro Manila via sweeper flights landing on the Iloilo Airport and sea vessels docking in Iloilo City.
EO No. 128 prohibits the entry to Iloilo of people from other regions until June 15, except returning Ilonggo overseas workers and returning Iloilo residents who got stranded in other areas due to the quarantine.
Also, aside from sweeper flights, the other flights allowed at the Iloilo Airport are only those transporting the following:
* health workers responding to emergency
* members of the Philippine National Police and all branches of the Armed Forces of the Philippines
* persons travelling for urgent medical reasons
* persons traveling into the province on common carriers and/or transport for the conduct of trade, delivery of social / humanitarian services, fishing / marine activities, scientific / academic pursuits, and such other essential purposes, other than carriage of passengers
CAAP-Iloilo’s Parreño, however, said the Iloilo Airport is prepared anytime the commercial flights would resume.
It now has physical distancing markers and has designated hand-washing and decontamination areas.
When commercial flights finally resume, Parreño said, people should expect airlines to reduce their passenger flight capacity so as to ensure physical distancing in airplanes, and even the frequency of flights.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Iloilo Airport served around 25 arrival and departure flights daily, said Parreño.
Classified as an international airport, the Iloilo Airport is the first airport in both Western Visayas and the island of Panay to be built to international standards. It is also considered to be the primary gateway into the region.
The airport opened to commercial traffic on June 14, 2007 with then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo inaugurating it./PN
