Newly renovated Catanduanes airport to be inaugurated June 1

LEGAZPI CITY – Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade is expected to lead the inauguration of the newly refurbished Virac domestic airport terminal building in Catanduanes province, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said Thursday.

Tugade will be with national officials of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and local officials in the inauguration of the P43.9 million worth passenger terminal building in Virac town, Eric Apolonio, CAAP media communication chief and spokesperson, said.

The project transformed the Virac airport terminal building into a modern structure to address the difficulties and discomforts experienced by passengers in the confined spaces of the old terminal, said Apolonio, in an emailed message.

Completed on May 14, the project covered the expansion of pre-departure at the ground and second floors.  It was designed to increase capacity from 100 passengers to 300. It includes the rehabilitation of the arrival area at the ground floor, he said.

The airport is classified as Principal Class 2 (major domestic) with a 1.8-kilometer long runway, which is also undergoing expansion, Apolonio said.

Two plane carriers are servicing the Virac domestic airport — Cebu Pacific with daily Manila-Virac-Manila flights and Philippine Airlines Clark-Virac-Clark route every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.

The construction for the terminal rehabilitation project began in January 2016 and involves turning the old design of the passenger terminal building into a modernized structure.

The P39-million project, which had the initial completion date of July 20,
2016, was suspended on May 23, 2016, after additional retrofitting works were considered necessary to provide stability to the old building originally built in 1963.

It was suspended again in December 2016 due to damage brought by Typhoon “Nina.” P4.5 million was added to the project for the repair of the passenger terminal building./lb