President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. led the capsule-laying and groundbreaking ceremonies on Monday for the upcoming new Passenger Terminal Building (PTB) at Caticlan Airport in Aklan.
Joining the president at the event were Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon, Energy Secretary Sharon Garin, and Ramon Ang, the chairman and CEO of San Miguel Corporation (SMC), the majority stakeholder in the airport.
“We need to thank the local governments… If not for the local governments—both the provincial and municipal sides—without your help, we wouldn’t be able to build, we wouldn’t be able to complete the roads where expropriation or negotiations are needed,” President Marcos said in his remarks.
“We always turn to local governments for assistance, and once again, that has proven to be fruitful,” he added.
According to the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), Caticlan Airport serves as the main gateway to Boracay Island and is the most practical transit option for visitors traveling to this popular beach destination.
CAAP said the two-storey PTB will cover a total floor area of 36,470 square meters and will feature six passenger boarding bridges and 36 individual check-in counters.
Once completed, the PTB is expected to enhance the passenger experience and boost tourist arrivals at the airport. It is projected that the PTB will handle seven million passengers per year, with a simultaneous capacity of 3,000 passengers at any given time.
The target completion date for this project is set for before the year 2028.
Megawide Construction Corporation secured the contract in 2024 to design and build the new Caticlan PTB. The airport is owned and operated by Trans Aire Development Holdings Corp., a subsidiary of San Miguel Corporation Infrastructure.
This Caticlan project is in addition to SMC’s massive New Manila International Airport in Bulacan, a multi-billion-dollar development designed to accommodate 100 million passengers annually.
