Operations at all airports affected by ‘Tisoy’ back to normal

MANILA, Philippines — All airports operated by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (Caap) that were affected by the onslaught of Typhoon “Tisoy” (International name: Kammuri) on Tuesday have returned to normal operations on Thursday.

In an update sent to Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, Caap Director General Jim Sydiongco said the agency’s area center managers in airports in the Eastern Visayas and Southern Luzon earlier confirmed the resumption of commercial operations.

“Minor damages were already repaired, bringing back immediate resumption of normal operations. This is due to the immediate action and efforts taken by our airport management personnel to clean up and conduct necessary measures in order to accommodate passengers and flights as possible,” Sydiongco said.

The Caap chief said Legazpi airport, which sustained major damages due to the typhoon, had resumed commercial operations on Wednesday.

The same day, Sydiongco, together with Caap’s chief engineer, the air traffic service chief and a team of aerodrome engineers from the agency’s central office conducted an inspection of Legazpi airport. They also met with Caap personnel and representatives from the Office for Transportation Security (OTS), as well as from Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines (PAL).

According to Sydiongco, it was determined during their discussion, that a full rehabilitation of Legazpi airport would take between 30 to 40 days as the predeparture area was badly damaged by Tisoy.

Further, Sydiongco said that in order to accommodate full commercial operations while the rehabilitation was ongoing, the international arrival area of Legazpi airport had been converted into an interim predeparture area.

The Caap chief said an evaluation made by engineers showed that the damaged areas of the airport could be repaired and made operational by Monday.

“We are aiming that through this interim measure, the passenger terminal building still can and will be able to accommodate 400 passengers at any given time in case PAL and Cebu Pacific operate at the same time,” Sydiongco said.

In terms of security at Legazpi aiport, Sydiongco said the OTS had agreed to do a manual inspection as only one X-ray machine is operational.
To support the OTS personnel, the Caap will be augmenting its landside and airside security.