New Iloilo Airport inauguration in 4 days

“); } else { echo(”“); }; ?>Four more days until much anticipated inauguration of the new Iloilo Airport. No less than President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will grace the event slated on April 16, 2007 (this date is the most recent so far). Even to this day, the contractors are working hard at doing the finishing touches and making sure that every bulb and switch will operate smoothly once the airport is open.

Iloilo’s new world class airport is built on the plains of Santa Barbara and Cabatuan towns, approximately a 30 minute drive from Iloilo City. The completion of this modern airport will make travel to and from Iloilo much more convenient than before.

From the Santa Barbara Bypass, passengers will pass by the smooth 500-meter access road complete with landscaped center islands, adequate lighting, and drainage facilities. Parking will no longer be a problem since the parking area will be able to accommodate up to 415 cars. Taxi service will be provided by a sole company, which will be using a fleet of new “Toyota Avanza’s.”

The terminal has a larger space for the collection of tickets, has 4 x-ray machines, and 2 conveyor belts. After checking in, passengers will proceed to the pre-departure area on the third floor. The passenger lounge is designed to accommodate 500 people. Stairs and escalators will mainly be used by passengers to move from floor to floor. Though, elevators have been designated for the handicapped and VIPs.

Gone are the days when passengers have to go out of the building and go under the heat of the sun or suffer being wet in the rain before boarding their planes. Three passenger tubes were built to provide a comfortable and smoother flow of passengers in and out of planes.

The airport is also well prepared for emergencies due to installation of fail-safe systems and adequate security facilities. In the event of a power shortage, the airport will have a maximum of only 3 seconds with no power before a back-up power generator is automatically triggered. Even the fire-safety equipment is top of the line, the three Mercedes Benz fire trucks was bought from Italy in the event of fire.

Aesthetically, the new Iloilo Airport is considered by many as the best designed airport outside Metro Manila. The shape of its curved roof and steel beams that support it appear stylish and modern. Its walls are all-glass so passengers will have a nice view of planes flying in and out of the runway. The airport’s roof is designed to let in light and make full use of natural lighting inside the terminal, where pocket gardens similar to NAIA Terminal II are found.

The airport was built to accommodate the increasing number of passengers using the Iloilo Airport, which is the fourth busiest in the country after Manila, Cebu and Davao. It boasts of a 2.5 kilometer by 45 meter wide runway, which can accommodate Airbus 330 and 340 and Boeing 747 planes and an airport complex of 188 hectares, which is wide enough for future expansions.

The new airport will be opened to commercial flights in April 23 2007, one week after its inauguration. The opening of the “Iloilo Airport of International Standards” does not necessarily mean that the new airport is an “international airport” or it will immediately have direct international flights to the world’s major destinations. Rather, it only means that the airport is capable of accommodating international flights once they are made available by airline companies. Initially, the airport will handle the same number of flights at the same frequency and no international flights are serviced. Market forces will determine a change in these numbers and the airline companies will be the one to decide if they will open a particular international flight to the Iloilo Airport.

Once the new Airport opens the old Mandurriao airport will be closed down and the airport lot will sold off to the highest bidder. Part of the proceeds from the sale will be used to pay off the cost of the new airport and part of it will be used to finance a proposed world class highway, which starts from Iloilo City to Caticlan, the gateway to the world famous Boracay Island. A new Business District will then emerge in the old airport lot and most probably, tall buildings will be sprouting in the area since “no planes” will mean a lifting of the building height limit in this part of the city.

Marcos C. posted this article on April 12, 2007; 3:00 pm. This article has had 5,989 views and 209 comments.
Filed Under:

• Category: Feature Updates
• Tags:

Trackback URI | Comments RSS