Baguio City sees hope in Loakan airport
FLYING WITH HOPE Baguio City officials say they will never give up pushing for the rehabilitation of Loakan airport. (Photo from skyscrapercity.com)
The city government of Baguio pledged that it would not give up on the summer capital’s lone airport.
This is despite the fact that the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) reiterated that it was not ready to rehabilitate Loakan airport as it would cost the government more than P440 million.
The proposed rehabilitation of the airport includes the construction of an access road west of Runway 09 which will cost P26.7 million. The perimeter fence, on the other hand, will cost P30.7 million.
An installation of an Airfield Lighting System costing P50 million is also needed when the upgrading from Visual Flight Rules to Instrument Flight Rules pushes through.
The rehabilitation will also require the construction of a new passenger terminal building amounting to some P336 million.
CAAP Director General William Hotchkiss said that before pushing for the rehaqbilitation of the airport, city and regional officials must first convince airlines to offer commercial flights to Baguio and secure slots at the congested Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
Slots at the Clark International Airport or at the proposed new airport in Sangley Point, Cavite must be reserved beforehand.
Hotchkiss also asked for the help of city officials in addressing a major concern of airlines operating in the airport which is intrusion. People and vehicles have purportedly been using the airport as access road to their homes, schools and churches. Furthermore, stray animals and pedestrians frequent the runway.
According to Deputy Director John Andrews, CAASP Assistant Director General Capt. Beda Badiola and Hotchkiss, though air transport is important in Baguio, Loakan airport is still dangerous. They emphasized several aircraft accidents involving the airport.
The airport’s location in a mountainous area and the presence of clouds resulting in poor visibility are among the factors making Loakan unsafe.
Baguio City Mayor Mauricio Domogan, however, contradicted CAAP’s pronouncement. He said that the airport had served as a commercial airfield for a long time and no accidents in the airstrip had ever been recorded.
CAAP officials revealed though that the government was open to a private-public partnership through a build-operate-transfer scheme.
They commented that a private sector could properly maintain the airport and ensure the observation of protocols, preventing airport intrusions, and convince airlines to offer commercial flights to Baguio City.
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