New Iloilo airport needs more staff but ‘no vacancy’

The Guardian Iloilo. 2007-03-15
Jeehan V. Fernandez

THE soon to open New Iloilo Airport Development Project (NIADP) will need more employees but the Air Transportation Office (ATO-6) said they have no vacancies for prospective applicants to fill up such positions.

ATO-6 chief Alan Java, who serves as the Iloilo airport manager, said job applications in his office continue to pile up.

Java noted the old Iloilo Airport in Mandurriao, Iloilo City presently has 127 employees. These employees will be transferred to the new 188-hectare NIADP located in Sta. Barbara-Cabatuan towns once the new airport starts operating on April 12.

“We need additional 356 employees to work on the new airport. But there are no vacancies in the ATO as the government did not open item positions for these,” Java clarified.

He added the additional number of employees would translate to around P81million in salaries to be paid by ATO annually.

Java explained that some 200 workers are needed for janitorial services alone but these will be provided by a private placement agency.

The NIADP costing about P8.8-billion is financed by a P5.259-billion loan from Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) while the Philippine government shouldered the difference.

Java said the new airport will accommodate the same 27 inbound and outbound flights daily being served by the old airport.

The Guardian Iloilo. 2007-03-15

Iloilo airport seen as catalyst for development

PIA Press Release 2007/03/13

Iloilo City (13 March) -- The Iloilo Airport is really intended to serve as catalyst for development, according to Mr. Ed Mangalili, Project Manager of the Iloilo Airport Project who briefed members of the Regional Development Council during their tour of the facilities of the new Airport. Mangalili said the airport would not only spur development around the area but even in the whole of Panay.

The construction of the Iloilo Airport, which is of international standards, came about because the old airport is no longer capable of future air demand, Mangalili said. When completed the Iloilo Airport is a bigger facility than the Silay Airport, Mangalili told the RDC members.


Engineer Eduardo Mangalili (in pink shirt), Project Manager of the new Iloilo Airport Project, briefs members of the Regional Development Council on the facilities of the new Iloilo Airport. (PIA-6)



Among others, it boasts of a 2.5 kilometer by 45 meter wide runway which can accommodate Airbus 330 and 340 and Boeing 747 planes, three Passenger Bridges, two baggage claim conveyors, a 500 seating capacity passenger lounge, a three-kilometer access road and nine separate buildings all within the 188 hectare airport complex.

The cost of construction is pegged at P8.758 billion.

So far, Mangalili said, three airline companies have signified their intention to avail of space within the new Airport and are expected to move in within the week to arrange their offices. Spaces within the airport are also open to concessionaires.

The completed airport facilities will be formally turned over to the Air Transportation office on March 19 and it will now be the ATO who will manage the facilities according to Mr. Alan Java, ATO Area Manager. The tentative schedule for the Airport inauguration is on April 12, 2007.

Meanwhile to enhance the competitive advantages of the country's five super regions, the government is set to complete this year, aside from the Iloilo Airport, seven other airport projects that would further promote tourism and logistics by providing a more efficient mode of transport for goods and passengers. The eight airport projects are part of the 31 priority airport projects costing P94.37 billion targeted to be completed by 1022 under the Medium Term Public Investment Program (MTPIP). (PIA 6)

PIA Press Release 2007/03/13

President to lead inauguration

The Guardian Iloilo, 3/5/2007
by Francis Allan L. Angelo

Gloria excited on new Iloilo airport opening
President to lead inauguration

PRESIDENT Gloria Arroyo is excited to inaugurate the P6-billion new Iloilo airport of international standards at the Cabatuan-Sta. Barbara area, said Representative Arthur Defensor (Iloilo, 3rd district).

Defensor said President Arroyo will lead the inauguration and opening of the airport in middle of April.

The new airport will begin operation April 14, according to the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC).

Citing their meeting in Malacañang last week, Defensor said President Arroyo “is very enthusiastic to inaugurate the airport as soon as possible.”

“This airport is one of the most modern and beautiful in terms of architecture and design. But what is important is that this airport will become the key to the rapid development and progress of the city and province of Iloilo and the rest of Western Visayas,”

According to DOTC officials, President Arroyo will be on board the first plane to land on the multibillion airport facility.

Installation and testing of the airport’s aviation equipment is ongoing while the DOTC is now hiring personnel that will operate the facility.

Families affected by the airport project will be prioritized in the hiring, the DOTC said.

The new airport sits on a 200-hectare land straddling the towns of Sta. Barbara and Cabatuan.

Its 48,000-square meter apron can accommodate six commercial planes at a time.

The airport project is financed by a P5.259-billion loan from Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) while the Philippine government allotted a counterpart fund of P928 million.

The Guardian Iloilo, 3/5/2007