The Department of Transportation (DOTr) said Tuesday it is accelerating the construction of the Tacloban Airport Development Project to meet the March 2024 completion target.
Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) director-general Manuel Antonio Tamayo said the slight delay was caused by the revision of plans of the PTB’s roofing, arch finishes and access ramp.
The agency said that as of Sept. 25, 2023, the overall status of the airport’s passenger terminal building was at 57.13 percent.
“We would like to assure the people of Tacloban that the DOTr and CAAP are moving fast to guarantee that the construction of the airport as soon as possible,” Tamayo said.
Tamayo said the DOTr bid out the asphalt overlay and runway strip width correction, with concrete sheet piles to improve the strip of the runway, on Sept. 21, 2023. The project is expected to start by December 2023 with completion of the runway seen a year after.
The agency said that under the 2024 National Expenditure Program (NEP), an additional P500 million funding for the continuation of the strip width correction would be bid out in the fourth quarter of 2023 or once the 2024 General Appropriations Act (GAA) was approved.
Department of Transportation aviation undersecretary Roberto Lim said to extend the runway from 2.1 kilometers to 2.5 kilometers and cater to bigger aircraft such as the A330, an additional budget of P238 million under the 2023 budget was downloaded to the city government of Tacloban for the land acquisition of additional eight hectares,
The acquisition process is expected to be completed by December 2024.
The plan of work (POW) for the airport’s PTB is already up for approval, Tamayo said.
The submission and opening of bids are scheduled on Oct. 10, 2023 with project duration of 720 calendar days, including specifications and drawings. Construction is expected to start in December 2023 with completion seen in December 2025.