Photo from PIA Agusan del Norte’s Twitter account
The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) advised all pilots on Saturday of the closure of the Surigao Airport due to heavy damage on its runway following the magnitude 6.7 earthquake that shook Surigao City.
Caap issued a notice to airmen (Notam) informing them that the airport will be closed until March 10 to give way to runway repair and rehabilitation.
Caap director general Jim Sydiongco ordered 24-hour work by his agency’s engineering on the runway for the speedy restoration of normal operations at the airport.
According to CAAP Area Center 12 manager Evangeline Daba the 6.7-magnitude tremor that struck Surigao City at around 10:04 p.m. on Friday partially damaged the concrete 1700-meter runway of Surigao Airport.
READ: 6.5 magnitude earthquake shakes parts of Mindanao
Daba assured that the airport terminal was minimally damaged with only some broken windows.
The Caap region 12 said that while Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific operate daily flights at the airport, passengers will have to reach Surigao City by way of the Butuan Airport.
Butuan Airport is a two-hour drive to Surigao City.
Sydiongco assured the riding public that Caap is doing its best to accelerate the repairs to normalize operations at the airport as soon as possible. CDG