New terminal 1 to boost MCIA capacity by 16M

CEBU, Philippines — Passenger capacity of Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) will increase to 16 million per year once the renovation of domestic Terminal 1 is completed.

Ravishankar Saravu, chief commercial advisor at GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp., said renovation of T1 is scheduled to be completed this year.

Saravu said the airport operator has remained optimistic on growth prospects as it aims to expand the country’s second busiest air hub in the future.

He said that both Terminal 1 and 2 will be expanded by 2024 to hit its target of 28 million passengers.

Terminal 2 officially opened last year, catering to international flights and passengers.

The private operator had previously planned to get a concession to build a third terminal projected to start by 2035, as part of its long-term development plan for the airport.

In June 2017, GMR-Megawide had submitted a P208-billion unsolicited proposal to the government to further develop MCIA.

Saravu noted the airport’s long-term target is to increase its capacity to at least 50 million passengers per year.

Under the proposal, the expansion will be undertaken in three phases, with the first involving the rehabilitation of MCIA’s existing runway and taxiways; construction of an additional parallel taxiway to serve as emergency runway; and the development of additional rapid exit taxiways and runway holding positions, upon takeover of the airside facilities.

The second phase will involve the construction of a second parallel and independent runway, while the third and final phase is the building of a third terminal for additional passengers.

Based on the study by the company, passenger traffic in Cebu will reach about 28 million passenger per year in 2039, a projected traffic similar to major Asian airports such as Singapore, New Delhi and Kuala Lumpur, among others.

Once completed, MCIA will emerge as the first Philippine airport with two parallel independent runways. (FREEMAN)