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| Photo from Asia Pacific Projects Inc. (APPI) powerpoint presentation. |
Republic
of the Philippines
DEPARTMENT
OF TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATIONS
PRESS
RELEASE
August
06, 2012Office of Secretary Mar Roxas
DOTC TO
BID OUT P160M AIRPORT DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS
IN POTENTIAL TOURIST SPOTS
NAIA’s
Captain’s runway status lifted due to marked improvement
in air traffic management
MANILA,
Philippines – The Department of Transportation and Communications today
announced another set of airport development projects—those in San Vicente in
Palawan, Kalibo in Aklan, and
Sanga-Sanga in Tawi-Tawi—totaling P160 million.
In an
invitation to bid published today, the DOTC said the civil works for the three
airports includes mostly airside development and terminal facilities
improvements.
A big
chunk of the budget for this bidding program will go to the new airport in San
Vicente. About P72.35 million is allocated for the completion of runway
extension, concrete paving of runway, and hill obstruction removal in San
Vicente.
The
budget also covers the construction of vehicular parking area, perimeter fence,
and pedestrian and vehicular gates.
This
represents another phase in the airport development in San Vicente. A month
ago, the DOTC also announced bidding for the construction of a new passenger
terminal building in the same area.
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| Tourism route image from Asia Pacific Projects Inc. (APPI) powerpoint presentation. |
San
Vicente is highly touted as the next big tourist destination in the
Philippines. Apart from its proximity to El Nido, San Vicente also boasts of a
14-kilometer stretch of white sand beach.
Another
P59.49 million is being earmarked for the Kalibo International Airport
Development Project, one of the busiest airports in the country.
The
project entails the completion of its runway’s asphalt overlay, concrete paving
of apron expansion with taxiway, and construction of security fence.
Kalibo
currently ranks 7th in the list of busiest airports in terms of passenger
traffic. In 2010, it serviced a total of 1,005,845 passengers.
Some P29
million worth of civil works will also be bidded out for the Sanga-Sanga
Airport in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi. The project includes the construction of
vehicular parking area, drainage system, and perimeter and security fences.
Earlier,
the DOTC also invited bidders to participate in an open and transparent bidding
for the site development, construction of new passenger terminal building, and
expansion of apron in Sanga-Sanga.
These
airport development projects are in support of the huge potential of tourism in
the country’s economy, and in the more important goal of creating jobs and
livelihood opportunities for the people.
The
country’s tourism sector continues to boom. From January to May of this year
alone, visitor arrivals rose almost 14 percent from more than 1.8M tourist
arrivals compared with over 1.6M arrivals for the same period in 2011.
Last
year, a record 3.7 million foreign tourists visited the country, and all
indications show that the country is on its way to achieving the projected
4.6million tourist arrivals by yearend.
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| Photo from Asia Pacific Projects Inc. (APPI) powerpoint presentation |
Meanwhile,
in view of the marked improvement in air traffic management, the DOTC is
lifting the Captain’s runway status of NAIA, a measure aimed to reduce runway
occupancy and expedite aircraft movement on the ground.
In an
effort to minimize or eliminate flight delays experienced by airlines, DOTC in
cooperation with airline companies implemented several programs recently.
One
program proposed and implemented by the Civil Aviation Authority of the
Philippines in support of the delay avoidance project of the DOTC was the
Coordinated Arrival Slotting System. With this system, domestic aircrafts
flying to NAIA are not allowed to take off from their airport of origin if they
do not have an available slot yet at the NAIA runway.
“The
purpose of this is to reduce flights placed on holding patterns by the Air Traffic
Control until safe landing spaces are available,” CAAP director general William
Hotchkiss III, said. “Also, CASS helps airlines to save operational costs
because airplanes such as an Airbus A320 burns fuel worth about P7,000 per
minute on a holding pattern.”
###
Note to
editors:
DOTC –
Department of Transportation and Communications
CAAP –
Civil Aviation Authority of the PhilippinesCASS – Coordinated Arrival Slotting System
NAIA – Ninoy Aquino International Airport
Media Contacts: Jera Sison and Babes Suva