DOTr Rushing to Upgrade 8 Airports to Decongest NAIA

Delivering a statement to the Congress, Makati Rep. Luis Campos Jr. said that in order to avoid further congestion at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), the Department of Tourism (DOTr) is currently in a mad overhaul rush of the country’s eight strategic airports. His announcement came from the department’s report to the Legislative.

Cities, where airports are being rehabilitated right now, include Naga (Camarines Sur), Tuguegarao, Cauayan, Dumaguete, Dipolog, Cotabato, Pagadian, and Ozamis. The majority of the job consists of runway widening and terminal upgrades so as to improve their night landing readiness.

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Campos added that the inability of numerous provincial airports to handle night flights is the number one reason for the daytime cramming of NAIA. Since the airport has to accommodate these departing domestic flights before nightfall despite having only two runways for both domestic and international flights, the result is evident.

At present, Campos pointed out that only 19 of the country’s 42 airports are able to receive and dispatch night flights. Once the upgrading of the eight airports is complete, the number of airports capable of handling night flights will reach 27.
Aside from the current eight airports undergoing rehabilitation, what remains of DOTr’s P10.1 billion 2018 budget will also be used to modernize another 32 airports around the country.

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Other airports scheduled to receive infrastructure development funds from the said national budget are Kalibo, Bicol International Airport, Tacloban, Bukidnon, Bohol International Airport in Panglao, Laoag International Airport, Calbayog, Zamboanga, San Jose (Camarines Sur), Surigao, Butuan, Roxas, Cotabato, Basco, Ormoc, Maasin, Antique, Sanga-Sanga, Pagadian, San Vicente, and Virac.