THE Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) on Wednesday said the Baguio (Loakan) Airport may resume commercial operations by the end of the year.
“For CAAP, we will reopen the airport for fixed-wing aircraft operations by the end of October 2022,” Acting Deputy Director General for Administration Danjun G. Lucas told BusinessWorld in a phone message.
CAAP and the Baguio City government are targeting to resume the airport’s commercial operations by the “end of the year,” the agency said in an e-mailed statement.
Mr. Lucas said CAAP has an initial budget of P50 million for the rehabilitation of the airport’s passenger terminal building, as well as the improvement of its instrument landing system and runway extension by 100 meters.
“The rehabilitation will start soonest. We are inspecting the airport now with PAL (Philippine Airlines),” Mr. Lucas added.
CAAP said its officials had a meeting with officials of the Baguio City government, along with the city tourism office, and PAL for the reopening of the Baguio airport.
They hope to launch flights to Baguio from Mactan, Cebu, and vice versa.
“PAL commercial flights would depend on their operational considerations,” Mr. Lucas said.
PAL Spokesperson Cielo C. Villaluna said the airline “will make official announcements in due course.”
The Baguio airport has been closed to commercial flights for more than a decade.
Meanwhile, budget carrier Cebu Pacific announced separately on Wednesday additional flights to Bali, Bangkok, Dubai, Fukuoka, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, and Taipei starting this month.
The airline will also resume its direct Davao-Singapore flight on Oct. 30, which will be followed by the resumption of its flights to Kota Kinabalu on Oct. 31.
“We hope to reopen more flights as we anticipate other countries to ease restrictions soon,” Cebu Pacific Chief Commercial Officer Xander Lao said in an e-mailed statement. — Arjay L. Balinbin