Tourists increase; airport terminals need expansion

MACTAN-Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA) will expand its passenger terminal because of the rapidly increasing number of foreign and domestic tourists.

MCIAA General Manager Danilo Augusto Francia said domestic and foreign tourists of different nationalities arriving and departing Mactan airport are increasing every year.

Records showed that international passenger arrivals went up from 279,624 from January to September 2006 to 356,762 in the same period this year, or 29 percent above the 266,401 target.

MCIAA recorded total departures of 369,856 from January to September this year, which is higher than the 289,965 in the same period last year.

Domestic

Arrivals of domestic passengers increased from 812,762 in January to September 2006 to 1,009,195 in the same period this year. The departures of local passengers also increased from 864,144 to 1,032,823.

The international arrival flights were recorded at 2,009 from January to September 2006 and went up to 2,733 in the same period this year. There were 2,723 international departure flights this year, from 2,018 in the same period last year.

A total of 778,210 international passenger arrivals were recorded for 2006 from the 57,998 when Mactan was opened to international flights in 1991. Within this period, the domestic passengers also increased from 1.4 million in 1991 to 3.3 million last year.

Approval

Aside from aircraft plying in regular routes and chartered flights, general aviation companies made an average of 8,000 flights annually, while the military has an average 6,000 flights.

There are foreign airline companies operating on regular chartered flights from Mactan to different countries while waiting for the approval of their regular routes.

International and domestic cargo arrivals (imports) and departures (exports) also increased every year, said Francia. (SS)