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Iloilo int’l airport ready for commercial flights in April Iloilo int’l airport ready for commercial flights in April Iloilo int’l airport rea
Source: Inquirer
Author: Nestor P. Burgos Jr.
Date: 0000-00-00
 
ILOILO CITY, Iloilo, Philippines— The Iloilo International airport will be open to commercial flights in April and is expected to boost the tourism industry and economy in the Western Visayas.

The P8.759-billion project is 97-percent complete and the first commercial flight will land there on April 18, according to Sen. Franklin Drilon, who inspected the site with Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza on Friday.

“This will spur the economic growth of Iloilo and Western Visayas,” Drilon said. He said the airport would serve as a “new gateway for the Visayas.”

The number of Iloilo-Manila and Manila-Iloilo passengers is expected to reach more than 800,000 by 2010, according to a forecast of the Department of Transportation and Communication.

The current airport in Mandurriao District here is the fourth busiest in the country in terms of number of passengers, next to the Ninoy Aquino, Mactan-Cebu and Davao international airports.

Construction of the Iloilo international airport started in 2004 and will be completed on March 18. The airport is being built on a 188-hectare area straddling Sta. Barbara and Cabatuan towns, 24 kilometers west of here.

It is equipped with a modern three-story terminal with a floor area of about 12,000 square meters, control towers, a cargo terminal, and landing and navigation systems. It can accommodate six aircraft parking simultaneously.

Funding came from a P5.259-billion loan from the Special Yen Loan Package of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and a Philippine government counterpart fund of P928 million.

The Taisei-Shimizu Joint Venture will turn over the airport to the DoTC on March 17.

With the opening of the airport, the 54-ha site of the current airport would be converted into a commercial and light industry complex, Drilon said. The Department of Finance has placed the area’s market value at P1 billion.

The P5.751-billion international airport in Silay City in Negros Occidental will be open in July next year.

The government has allotted P179 million for the improvement and expansion of the Kalibo airport in Aklan, the gateway to the world-famous resort island of Boracay. It will be completed in April 2008.

Visitors to central Philippines reached 4.23 million in 2005, or 28 percent of the country’s total regional travelers.

 

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