Tacloban airport terminal expansion to be completed end of Feb.

TACLOBAN CITY, Jan.19  -- The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) targets the completion of its expanded terminal building by the end of February to address congestion at the departure area.

CAAP-Eastern Visayas Area Manager Danilo Abarreta said Friday the PHP17-million project is 80 percent complete. It will triple the capacity of the existing 360-seater departure area and expand the check-in area.

“Our departure area is only designed for about 300 passengers, but there are times when the number of waiting passengers goes up to nearly 1,000. The problem of overcrowding is really serious,” Abarreta said.

The project began third quarter of 2017 as part of the PHP1.59 billion worth of projects meant to refurbish the Daniel Z. Romualdez (DZR) Airport in this city.

CAAP pushed for the implementation of the project less than two years after the PHP43.63-million reconstruction of the one-story terminal building badly damaged by Super Typhoon Yolanda in 2013.

The official cited the need to improve the existing facility while waiting for the construction of a new terminal building nearby under the PHP721-million long-term development plan, said Abarreta.

The DZR Airport, classified as Class 1 major domestic airport, is the main gateway from Manila and Cebu to the Eastern Visayas region.

The airport was named after former House of Representatives Speaker Daniel Z. Romualdez, an uncle of former First Lady Imelda Romualdez-Marcos.

The DZR Airport is one of the country’s busiest with 30 daily flights to and from Manila and Cebu.

The airport in the regional capital was ranked as the country’s 9th busiest in 2016, with 1.1 million inbound and outbound passengers. (SQM/PNA)