THE government aims to award the P14.62-billion operations and maintenance contract of the Laguindingan Airport in Northern Mindanao by the second half of 2015.
“We are incorporating an infrastructure expansion component into the operations contract that we will bid out in December,” Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio A. Abaya said.
The contract, which carries a 30-to-35-year concession period, is meant to satisfy the projected passenger load for the next three decades, as well as to maintain the airport’s facilities and services at international standards. It also involves the development of associated infrastructure and facilities, and the installation of all required equipment to meet applicable international standards.
These include the construction and expansion of new and current passenger terminals, along with all associated infrastructure and facilities as per applicable standards.
The project also includes the development of airside facilities, including, among others, the apron, runway and taxiway and the enhancement-development of airside facilities to meet the enhanced scale of operations at the airport over the required duration.
Currently, the transport agency and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (Caap) are gearing up to begin night landing operations at Laguindingan Airport within this month.
Abaya said the government has finished installing all air navigation and airfield ground lighting system at the gateway in Mindanao, a move that would bolster the operations at the Laguindingan Airport.
“We hope to activate evening flights by the end of November in order to give the public more flight options as well as to decongest the airport during the day,” he said.
Officials from the Department of Transportation and Communication and Caap will inspect the airport to determine if there are system defects before the airport starts to start the operating at night.
Caap will then prepare the standard guidelines for arrival and departure procedures. After this, the regulator and the airlines will set the flight schedule to ensure orderly operations and to prevent air traffic and terminal congestion.This will start night operations at the airport.
“Night flights mean more flights and more options for passengers. As the gateway to Northern Mindanao, this development will spur greater economic activity to the bustling business and tourist destinations in Cagayan de Oro, Bukidnon, Iligan, and neighboring areas,” Abaya said.
The Laguindingan Airport was opened in June 2013 as a replacement to the older Lumbia Airport in Cagayan de Oro City. While determined by experts to be safer than Lumbia despite operating only under visual flight rules until now, one issue facing Laguindingan is its passenger capacity.
As early as 2012, Lumbia was already serving a little over 1.6 million annual passengers, which is Laguindingan’s annual capacity. This issue is largely because the airport was meant to be completed 2006, but the construction suffered several delays and the facility only became operational last year. By that time, passenger volume had increased.
Latest studies indicate that the airport will serve 2.58 million passengers by 2017.