|
SAN FERNANDO,
La Union—Approximately 264 kilometers away from Metro
Manila, a new international airport in San Fernando City
in La Union is getting ready to take off.
The Bases
Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), through the
Poro Point Freeport Management Corp. (PPMC), is looking
forward to the tourism and economic boost that the
P516-million
San Fernando
Airport upgrading project will bring.
“With the
merging tourist destinations in
Northern Luzon, tourists are looking for ways to reach the area
without wasting much time on travel.
“Investors
are also looking for ways to hasten the delivery of their
goods and services to their consumers and reduce the cost
of doing their business,” said Atty. Felix Racadio, PPMC
president and chief executive officer.
The BCDA
is positioning Poro Point as a major entertainment and
tourism hub in Northern Luzon because of its strategic
location. The airport being one of the priority projects
of President Arroyo, Racadio said they aim to upgrade it
to world-class standards and enable it to accommodate
larger aircraft of the size of Boeing 747s and Airbus
320s.
DEPUTY Speaker Eric Singson
(with glasses) buys sea urchin, or
uni
in Japanese and
maritangtang
in the local language,
from fishermen in Santiago town in Ilocos Sur. Santiago
and neighboring towns have been raising this expensive
delicacy in cages along the brackish water. Such exotic
attractions complement the infrastructure upgrading that
is expected to fuel the economic boom in the region. --MAURICIO
VICTA
“We are
now talking to airline companies for the possibility of
bringing in commercial flights to Poro Point. The airport
is envisioned to support the tourism-related facilities of
the Poro Point Freeport Zone and accelerate thee economic
development in Northern Luzon,” Racadio told the
BusinessMirror.
The
upgrading project, which started in May last year, is
47.65-percent complete as of March 2008. It is expected to
start operations in the next few months.
The
airport master plan also covers the expansion of the
existing apron and terminal building, and the construction
of a state-of-the-art control tower, among other
facilities.
Racadio
said the immediate development phase of the airport allows
it to accommodate international flights from the
Asia-Pacific Region, such as China, Taiwan, Japan, Hong
Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam
and Korea.
“The
commercial flights will bring the people closer to the
pristine beaches of La Union, the scenic beauty of Baguio
City, the cultural heritage of Ilocos and other
world-class tourist facilities in the North,” he added.
He said
overseas Filipino workers who live in the nearby provinces
represent another clientele for the
San Fernando
Airport.
Aside from
the
San Fernando Airport,
the 236.5-hectare Poro Point also hosts a commercial
seaport, an industrial zone and an entertainment center.
Poro Point used to be the Wallace Air Station that also
housed the Voice of America communications relay facility. | 
