Surigao airport reopens

An airport official inspects the damage to the runway that forced the closure of the Surigao airport. —AFP FILE PHOTO

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) on Thursday partially opened the Surigao Airport to commercial operations more than a week after it was shut down due to heavy damage caused by the magnitude 6.7 earthquake that affected its concrete 1,700-meter runway.

The CAAP issued the notice to airmen (Notam) declaring the airport open for small commercial turbo-propeller aircraft on Thursday following an inspection conducted by Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade and agency officials on the partially repaired runway as well as the repairs on the terminal complex.

CAAP deputy director for operations Manuel Antonio Tamayo said that after noting the 1,000-meter repair of the runway, the total length of which is 1,700 meters, the officials declared it “usable and safe for aircraft operations.”

Philippine Airlines Express and Cebu Pacific, which operate out of the Surigao Airport, use turbo propeller aircraft in their commercial flights.