GMR bares airport changes

CEBU, Philippines - GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. yesterday bared the transformation it has made to help improve passenger experience at the Mactan Cebu International Airport.

GMCAC which recently celebrated its first anniversary underscored the additional flights out of Cebu, terminal enhancements, and increased in the number of passengers flying out of Cebu. According to GMCAC, the number of passengers rose by one million after four new flights were launched and eight others were reinstated.

GMCAC opened this month the Cebu-Taipei route and by March next year, the Cebu-LA will be launched.

“The work of transforming MCIA as the friendliest gateway to any destination is always our priority. The changes we made to Terminal 1 are practical, prioritizing passenger comfort above all else," said GMCAC President Louie Ferrer.

GMCAC Chief Executive Advisor Andrew Harrison said that upon takeover in November 2014, the company’s first objective was to reduce congestion at the terminal, which was then operating at seven million passengers a year even if its design was only capable of handling 4.5 million passengers per annum.

GMCAC also commissioned nine Self-Service Check-In Kiosks and has stopped the use of dedicated airline kiosks.

“This will enable us to extend the kiosks to locations such as hotels, lobbies, and ferry terminals for greater passenger convenience,” said Harrison.

The company also developed a new Common Final Security Screening Zone, thus doubling capacity and reducing congestion. Physical changes to the terminal also extended to expanding the Duty-Free shops.

There is also a new shopping area at the domestic departure. There are two new commissioned coffee houses and a Filipino fastfood chain is opening soon. It has also increased the number of ATMs from six to 32.

To improve passenger convenience, a new taxi bay with simultaneous boarding capacity for 10 taxis opened last May. In addition, the first two of 10 renovated passenger toilets have been expanded and are now open to the public.

These are the first star washrooms of any airport in the Philippines and there is also a separate washroom for Persons with Disabilities featuring an electric sliding door, another first in the Philippines.

The next phase of Terminal 1 includes the complete replacement of all baggage handling lines and the replacement and expansion of two domestic reclaim carousels.

By July 2016, a new 3-Level In-Line X-ray system will be commissioned and partitions with interlocking doors are being installed to create swing gates to address congestion as the domestic and international peaks are not co-incidental.

“Through these works we are demonstrating our core capability of transforming legacy airports into award winning airports and the positive perceptions of passengers are clearly being reflected through various feedback forums including passenger surveys, social media and stakeholder consultation,” Harrison said.

The GMCAC is also constructing the terminal 2 which is scheduled to be completed by 2018.

The new terminal will serve international flights with eight aerobridge-equipped aircraft parking stands and will be connected by a link-bridge to terminal 1, which will be refurbished for exclusive domestic use.

Terminal 2 will feature 48 Check-In counters that are expandable to 72 and has modular expansion capability to ensure operations can continue uninterrupted while expansion takes place as traffic growth warrants.

When terminal 2 is commissioned in 2018, it will increase the terminals current design capacity from 4.5 million passengers per annum to 12.5 million passengers every year. In terms of employment generation, more than 3,000 jobs will be created during the construction of terminal 2 with another 550 employment opportunities through concessionaires once it is commissioned. — (FREEMAN)