Bill filed for second Mactan runway

A second runway is needed in the Mactan-Cebu International Airport to cope with growing passenger and aircraft traffic, said Rep. Raul del Mar of Cebu City’s north district.

He filed a bill asking the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) to do a feasibility study and fund its construction.

He said the airport’s single runway would not be able to cope with Cebu’s growing passenger traffic in the next decade.

“As a rule of thumb a single runway can cater to passenger traffic of around 15 million passengers per year. This maximum is possible especially if the flights can be evenly distributed over a 24-hour period. Considering all the flight movements – domestic and international commercial flights, general aviation and military aircraft movements – the runway capacity at MCIA may only be sufficient till 2024,” he said.

A second runway is already part of MCIA’s development plan, said airport manager Nigel Paul Villarete.

The existing runway measuring 45 meters by 3.3 kilometers can still accommodate existing aircraft traffic, Villarete said.

“But if we continue to grow, the runway’s capacity will be breached soon,” he added.

Del Mar said he hopes the bill will be taken up during the first session of the 16th Congress.

The MCIA serves as a hub for air transport in southern Philippines and “a vital gateway to the country’s economic prosperity” said the bill’s explanatory note.

In 2012, MCIA recorded a 9 percent increase in passenger movement of 6.8 million and 58,888 aircraft movements, he noted.

The Department of Tourism recorded 2.2 million tourist arrivals in 2012.

Villarete said that the MCIA land area of about 500 hectares is still enough to accommodate a second runway as big as the present one.

If the proposal pushes through, the second runway can be built in the eastern portion of the existing runway.