President Rodrigo Duterte formally inaugurated on February 15 the redeveloped Sangley Airport in Cavite City for general aviation use.
The airport, which can cater to turboprop aircraft, is open from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
The airport’s re-development was completed in October, making the airport’s facilities 100% operational. These include a passenger terminal building that can serve 160 passengers at any given time, two hangars, flight information display systems, parking area, drainage system, access road, power house, cistern tank, CCTV, baggage carousel, x-ray machines, weighing conveyor, and fire trucks.
Last October, a Cebu Pacific freighter conducted a test run at the airport; the airline is eyeing Sangley as a cargo hub.
READ: Sangley Airport starts 7-day trial run before formal launch
The Department of Transportation (DOTr) said discussions regarding airline companies’ commitment to operate at the airport’s newly constructed landside facilities by February 2020 have started.
DOTr said several general aviation companies have expressed interest in operating at Sangley Airport: Asian Aerospace, INAEC Aviation, World Aviation, Cebu Pacific, Philippine Airlines, Aboitiz Inc., Alphaland, Air Mabuhay, 1Avition, PAGSS, PAIRCARGO, Petron, and Phoenix.
The development of Sangley Airport is seen to help ease congestion at the Philippines’ main gateway Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
The recently awarded Sangley Point International Airport (SPIA) project to transform the air hub as the next big thing in Philippine air transport innovation and as an alternative to NAIA was also presented during the inauguration.
READ: Sole bidder awarded P208B Sangley Point airport project
The P208.5-billion contract to develop and implement Phase 1 of SPIA was recently awarded to the consortium of MacroAsia Corporation and China Communications Construction Company Ltd.
After the signing of the joint-venture development agreement, it will take 12 to 18 months to complete the detailed engineering design, said MacroAsia.
MacroAsia and the Chinese state-run firm tandem was the sole bidder for the project that will see the development of Sangley, a domestic airport, into a 1,500-hectare international airport.
The consortium will be responsible for co-developing the project, providing the necessary equity investment and credit enhancements. Subject to a further competitive process or price test, it will perform engineering, procurement and construction services for the land and airport development components of the project.
Once complete, SPIA is aimed to be on a par with Singapore’s Changi International Airport, Hong Kong International Airport, and South Korea’s Incheon International Airport.
The project’s first phase is slated for completion in 2022 and is expected to accommodate 75 million passengers yearly. The second phase of development will follow, with target completion of 2028. The airport can accommodate up to 130 million passengers annually once fully complete.
The airport is set to cater to routes/flights to island tourist destinations. Alphaland, which flies the Balesin route and launched its first flight from Sangley Airport on February 14, will be transferring its Manila and Clark operations to the new airport.
Photo from DOTr
