MANILA, Philippines -- President Benigno Aquino III is expected to grace the final inspection of the newly-built Laguindingan Airport in Misamis Oriental tomorrow, June 11, the Department of Transportation and Communications said on Monday.
President Aquino will be the guest of honor at the event, which will also unveil the airport's marker, the DOTC said.
The DOTC said the first day of flights will be on Saturday, June 15.
The DOTC and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines , led by Transport Secretary Joseph Emilio Aguinaldo Abaya and CAAP director general William Hotchkiss III, will perform a last check of the readiness of the new gateway’s facilities.
"We expect this final inspection to go smoothly, especially since the airport has been ready to operate since April this year,"DOTC spokesperson Migs Sagcal said.
Airport operations were originally scheduled to be transferred from Lumbia Airport in Cagayan de Oro City last April 30, but this was postponed when carriers expressed difficulty in advising passengers of changes to their flight itineraries.
From this Saturday’s opening until its Instrument Landing System is fully in place by May 2014, the new airport will operate using visual flight rules.
"The consensus from CAAP, aviation experts, and affected airlines is that, even using VFR, Laguindingan is already safer than Lumbia right now. This is because geographically, it is in a better site under any weather condition,†Sagcal said.
The construction of the P7.85-billion Laguindingan Airport was funded with Official Development Assistance from South Korea through the Economic Development Cooperation Fund and the Export-Import Bank of Korea.
The airport features a 2.1-kilometer runway and a 7,184-square meter passenger terminal building with a capacity of 1.6-million passengers per year.