Tacloban airport opens after 25-hour closure due to potholes

Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport in Tacloban City. GOOGLE MAP IMAGE

TACLOBAN CITY—For 25 hours, the operations of the premier airport in Eastern Visayas were shut down due to the potholes on the runway caused by last week’s incessant rains.

On Friday morning, the Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport resumed operations following the emergency repair on the runway.

The DZR Airport was closed to air traffic past 5 p.m. on Wednesday after almost 100 potholes were seen on its 2.1-kilometer runway.

The biggest pothole had a diameter of 50 centimeters, said Engineer Danilo Abareta, area manager of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) which operates the DZR Airport.

The potholes were caused by incessant rains experienced by Tacloban City last week, he added.

“We had to close temporarily our operations at the DZR as we worked on patching and squaring these potholes, than compromise the safety of our passengers,” Abareta said.

The emergency repair that ended about 9 p.m. Thursday, affected about 3,000 passengers and caused the cancellation of about six flights.

DZR Airport has 30 daily flights serving the Manila, Cebu and Davao routes.

Last year, it served 1.64 million passengers, making it the country’s 7th busiest airport.

The airport’s terminal building is undergoing improvement to accommodate about 1,000 passengers. The present terminal can accommodate only 700 passengers.#