Tacloban City Airport resumes operations

CEBU, Philippines - After sudden closure of the Tacloban Airport Wednesday afternoon, operations of the facility had resumed yesterday morning.

Antonio Alfonso, manager of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines-Tacloban, said the closure affected also seven flights from Manila and the day’s final flight for Cebu City.

Alfonso said the closure was implemented after airport personnel, in their routine inspection, found a large pothole at the center of the runway, shortly after a Cebu Pacific plane from Manila, touched down at around 2 p.m. Wednesday.

"I apologized for the inconvenience but I was more concerned of the safety of all planes and passengers,” he said, adding that many of the incoming flights to Tacloban were diverted to the airports in Mactan in Cebu and Ormoc City in Leyte.

The Tacloban Airport had undergone 10 closures, since super typhoon Yolanda struck Leyte and Samar in 2013, due to defects on its runway. This was uncompleted yet to this day, and Alfonso said he has no knowledge when the runway rehabilitation will be completed.

As of this writing, the only completed facility, under the P1.2 billion airport repair project, is the airport apron.

Recently, the DOTC announced the bidding for the multi-million pesos construction of the three-storey terminal building, but then works will only start after the hundreds of informal settlers nearby will be relocated by the city government.

Meanwhile, the Guiuan Airport in Eastern Samar was rehabilitated by the Department of Transportation and Communication, at a cost of P270 million, but a ranking Liberal Party official in the province had allegedly opposed to its opening because the mayor of this town was a party opponent.  (FREEMAN)