Northern Mindanao’s main gateway, the Laguindingan Airport in Misamis Oriental, may be able to accommodate nighttime and early-morning flights by January 2015 as progress on the project is going according to plan.
The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) has scheduled a nighttime flight test in November to check if a newly installed system required for evening operations is fully functional.
This after Korean contractor SKY-KR Consortium finished installing the Air Navigation System and Support Facilities ahead of its November 20 deadline.
CAAP spokesperson Eric Apolonio said that since the project is right on schedule, nighttime and early-morning flights could be launched by January 2015.
Laguindingan Airport started operations in June 2013, replacing the old Lumbia Airport in Cagayan De Oro. However, the airport offers limited sunrise-to-sunset operations and still relies on Visual Flight Rules (VFR) procedure, as the required instrument for night flights was not yet installed.
VFR are a set of regulations under which a pilot operates an aircraft in weather conditions generally clear enough to allow the pilot to see where the aircraft is going.
However, Laguindingan airport manager Jose Budiongan said that although CAAP has scheduled a trial nighttime flight in November, “we have to wait for the airline companies to do the night flight, if they want to.”
Apolonio, in a text message to PortCalls, said, “We expect PAL (Philippine Airlines) and Cebu Pacific to mount flights beyond the sunrise and sunset operations,” but added that neither of the airlines has yet confirmed participation in the nighttime flight testing in November.
CAAP is currently testing and calibrating the Instrument Landing Systems, a vital ground equipment that tells aircraft the precise position of the runway; VHF omni-directional radio range; Distance Measuring Equipment; Meteorological Observing System; Precision Approach Lighting System-Category 1; and Precision Approach Path Indicator.
Budiongan said that with the planned launch of nighttime flights, the airport’s annual capacity is expected to double from its current capacity of 1.6 million passengers annually.
“We can still handle that kind of traffic, but the Department of Transportation and Communications is looking to expand the terminal of the airport,” Budiongan said.
Privatization of the airport
Meanwhile, the government is set to bid out the privatization of Laguindingan next year, according to National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA)-Northern Mindanao director Leon Dacanay, Jr.
NEDA approved the P353.8-million Laguindingan Airport public-private partnership project, which includes the development, operation, and maintenance of the Northern Mindanao gateway. – Roumina Pablo
Photo from laguindinganinternationalairport.com
