Airline passengers can now expect a more comfortable experience at the Legazpi International Airport with the recent completion of the P40-million refurbishment and expansion of the passenger terminal building (PTB), assures the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP).
CAAP said the newly renovated PTB offers improved features and conveniences to airline passengers with its clean and green atmosphere that utilizes available sunlight passing through the wide glass walls to illuminate the interior and reduce the use of electricity.
“The new terminal building underscores the continuous management effort to accommodate more tourists with bigger spaces and seats that could now accommodate more than 500 passengers at anytime,” CAAP said in a statement.
The eco-friendly design has glass walls, providing a view of the runway with Mayon Volcano in the background, CAAP added.
Other improvements include the addition of separate international arrival and pre-departure areas, and expansion of the office spaces of government agencies Bureau of Immigration, Bureau of Customs, Human/Plant Quarantine, and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.
CAAP said it used self-generated revenue to fund the refurbishment, which was undertaken for the convenience of the flying public even though a new international airport—dubbed as the South Luzon or Bicol International Airport—is being constructed to replace Legazpi airport in five years’ time.
Cynthia Tumanut, area and airport manager of Area Center V and Legazpi Airport, said, “The management could not just sit and watch with (a) blank face the difficulties and discomforts being experienced by passengers due to cramped space and insufficient vents system of the old passenger terminal.”
Area Center V is composed of Legazpi, Albay, Masbate, Naga, Sorsogon, Virac, Bulan, and Daet airports.
The Legazpi airport accommodates landings for medium-sized commercial jets and military aircraft on its single runway measuring 2,280 meters long and 36 meters wide. Currently it handles eight regular flights from Manila and Cebu for Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific and CebGo (formerly Tigerair Philippines), and chartered international flights mostly from Shanghai and mainland China.
Although operating on a sunrise-sunset basis due to the ongoing improvement and installation of its instrument landing system, the airport can also handle night landings and takeoffs if given prior notice.
Image courtesy of mapichai at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
