ILOILO – The provincial government has yet to receive requests from airlines to resume international flights at the Iloilo airport in Cabatuan town.
Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. said the airport is ready for the resumption of direct flights from Iloilo to Singapore and vice versa and from Iloilo to Hong Kong and vice versa but there is still no demand for it.
“Not yet, they (airlines) have not asked. We are ready for it, ang importante lang nga may demand,” Defensor told the local media on Friday, Feb. 24, when asked regarding the resumption of international flights.
International flights were halted in 2020 due to the coronavirus disease pandemic.
He noted the provincial government is no longer implementing prohibition on the entry of locals or tourists in the province.
The governor added he wants additional number of flights at the Iloilo Airport to help boost the province’s economy.
In September 2022, Defensor confirmed one airline expressed interest to resume international flights but withdrew after the first confirmed monkeypox case in the province was recorded in August 2022.
Currently, three airline companies operating domestic flights at the Iloilo Airport are Philippine Airlines (PAL), Cebu Pacific and AirAsia.
PAL and Cebu Pacific used to have direct flights to Singapore and Hong Kong from Iloilo and vice versa.
On the other hand, Defensor wanted to improve the airport facilities.
He said he already talked to Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP)-Iloilo manager Manuela Luisa Palma regarding the need to improve the comfort room, air-conditioned system, and closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras.
“Nag-ayo man kita dira for better maintenance for our comfort rooms or toilet. Nasugilanon na naton si GM (Palma) and again we will talk to her para mag-improve kita dira lakip na ang aton CCTV,” said Defensor.
CAAP-Iloilo, however, told Defensor that they could not replace the facilities yet because of the ongoing procurement process, adding it will take time before the problems pointed out by the governor will be addressed.
Earlier, CAAP-Iloilo terminal supervisor Arthur Parreño said it has been 15 years since the airport opened in 2007, and improvements and expansions are “long overdue.”
The main passenger terminal, designed to accommodate only 400 to 450 passengers, should be expanded, said Parreño.
He added that the airport now caters to 20 flights (both departure and arrival) a day, and every flight has about 170 to 200 passengers.
Three departures or outgoing flights in the morning would have over 600 passengers combined, way above the current capacity.
Another airport area that needs expansion is the runway, said Parreño, especially now that the aforementioned three airlines resumed their usual number of flights.
Iloilo Airport is situated on 188 hectares of land covering barangays Tabucan, Tiring, Gaub, Duyan-Duyan, and Manguna in Cabatuan.
The airport complex consists of a single runway, various administrative and maintenance buildings, waste-sorting and water-treatment facilities, a power-generating station, a cargo terminal, and a main passenger terminal.
In October 2022 Transportation secretary Jaime Bautista announced that the airport was set to undergo an upgrade under a public-private partnership (PPP) scheme and expected the completion of these airport projects in the provinces by 2023 as part of efforts to boost travel and tourism in the country./PN