MANILA – The Department of Transportation (DOTr) opened Wednesday the newly upgraded Puerto Princesa Airport that is seen to boost tourism in Palawan province.
The international airport is expected to accommodate about 1.9 million passengers annually.
Top officials of the DOTr, led by Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade and Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) Director General Captain Jim Sydiongco, attended the blessing of the new Puerto Princesa International Airport (PPS) building.
Korean Ambassador to the Philippines Kim Jae-shin, local government officials led by Palawan Governor Jose Alvarez, Puerto Princesa Mayor Luis Marcaida III, and aviation stakeholders also graced the opening of the new airport terminal complex.
The P4-billion development project involved the construction of new passenger and cargo building, apron, taxiways and navigation facilities.
Located in Brgy. San Miguel, Puerto Princesa City, the airport terminal was built by a South Korean contractor. It has a floor area measuring 13,000 square meters with seating capacity of 1,500, parking slot for over 200 cars and a 2,600-meter runway that can accommodate bigger aircraft and six parking bays.
Currently, an average of 20 flights (20 landings/20 takeoffs) operate daily from PAL Express (Manila & Cebu), Cebu Pacific (Manila, Cebu Mactan and Iloilo), Philippine AirAsia (Manila, Cebu Mactan and Davao), PAL (Manila, Clark,& Taipei-Taoyuan) and Air Juan (Busuanga and Cuyo).
The new Puerto Princesa International Airport boasts a state-of-the art air navigation system (ILS/DME, AWOS, DVOR/DME) that complies with international standard, enhancing the airport’s safety operations (CAT-1) with an 1,800 KVA standby generator set.
