New Kalibo airport terminal rushed with more incoming tourists
Kalibo, Aklan -- By 2008, there will be a new airport terminal at Kalibo Airport to accommodate arriving passengers in the province brought by international flights from Incheon, South Korea and China by plane companies like the Asian Spirit, Philippine Airlines, Pacific Pearl and very soon, China Eastern.
This is according to Engr. Percy Malonesio, Airport Manager of the Air Transportation Office here at Kalibo Airport.
Engr. Malonesio revealed that currently, Asian Spirit directly lands from Incheon, South Korea at the Kalibo Airport on a daily basis except Thursdays, bringing in some 150 Korean tourists each flight. Asian Spirit's international flight from South Korea to Aklan started May 11 of this year.
The Philippine Airlines, on the other hand, just started ferrying in tourists from Pudong, Shanghai, China last October 1 and 2. The first flight brought in 93 passengers while the second flight had 101 passengers. Malonesio also said that Pacific Pearl and China Eastern airlines will soon have their own flight landings at the Kalibo Airport.
The new airport terminal, according to Malonesio, has already a budget of P84 million, released as promised by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and announced here by Congressman Ignacio Arroyo and Presidential Management Staff Chief Cerge Remonde during their visits to the province.
"The bidding process for the new airport terminal building will be held November of this year, and hopefully, by next year, the building will be finished," Malonesio revealed.
Malonesio also said the 100 meters expansion of the airport runway will also be underway, so domestic and international flights could land easily in the airport.
With the daily international flights coming in through Asian Spirit and with more brought in by other airlines in the days to come, Malonesio said the Air Transportation Office in Aklan is being extra-careful and vigilant in implementing anti-terroristic measures to protect leaving and arriving domestic and foreign passengers at the Kalibo Airport. He said ATO holds regular meetings with the PNP, the transport groups, the Aviation Security Group and other stakeholders to take up anti-terror preventive measures.
The international flights also caused the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation, the Bureau of Customs, and the Quarantine to establish regular desks and staff in the airport. Quarantine has four divisions to take care of specific concerns: plants, fisheries, animals and people. The quarantine division is on alert here, according to Malonesio, with the threat of bird flu, and the problem affecting ornamental palms and coconuts here, which might be brought to mainland Aklan through entry at the Kalibo Airport. (PIA)