Mindanao airport may be completed ahead of time

MANILA, Philippines—Work on the Laguindingan Airport Development Project (LADP) in Northern Mindanao is reported to be 82.66 percent completed, and may become operational well ahead of schedule, according to the project management office.

The P7.85 billion international airport in Misamis Oriental is one of the priority infrastructure concerns of the government under the 2004-2010 Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan, the Laguindingan Airport Development Project Project Management Office (LADP-PMO) reported.

The LADP-PMO report said that as of August 31, “the combined physical progress [of the two major components of the project] registered an actual accomplishment of 82.66 percent, ahead of schedule by 1.39 percent of the percentage target of 81.27 percent.”

The two major components are civil works and air navigation system and support facilities. Of the total project cost, about 71.93 percent has been disbursed as of end-August, the LADP-PMO said.

The project sourced a little over P5.01 billion of its funds from South Korea, while P2.84 billion came from the Philippine government.

When the National Economic and Development Authority Investment Coordination Committee-Cabinet Committee first approved the project in 1995, the cost was initially pegged at P707.8 million. The project cost was then revised three times, the last of which was in 2007.

Financing for the air navigation facilities was approved in late 2010.

The Laguindingan International Airport is expected to be operational in January 2012. The new airport is designed to accommodate 1.6 million passengers a year and will be the international gateway to the Cagayan de Oro-Iligan corridor, touted to be a major growth area.