Japan consortium set to build P7B Bohol airport

A Japanese consortium will begin in June the construction of a new international airport in Bohol province, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) announced Wednesday.

The P7-billion New Bohol (Panglao) Airport—the Aquino administration’s first greenfield airport—is moving forward after the DOTC and the winning consortium led by Mitsubishi Corp. and Chiyoda Corp. signed the deal on Wednesday.

“Tourists in Bohol continue to grow each year that passes. Unfortunately, the current airport may not be able to accommodate the increase over time,” Transportation Secretary Joseph Abaya said. “We need to cater to the increasing number of tourists and this means modernizing and expanding the airport with a design that is of international standards.”

The New Bohol Airport is expected to be completed by early 2018 and will replace the current Bohol gateway, the Tagbilaran Airport, which is the 11th-busiest airport in the country.

Measuring only 850 square meters, the Tagbilaran airport served around 789,800 passengers in 2013.

The new facility will be 10 times bigger than the Tagbilaran Airport, with a floor area of around 8,800 square meters, boosting the annual passenger capacity to 1.7 million passengers.

In line with Bohol’s eco-tourism branding, the airport will have environment-friendly features, such as the installation of LED lights. Also, only the pre-departure area will have air conditioning, operating with solar powered energy, while the rest of the areas will be open.

In order to provide better service for passengers, the DOTC is also in the process of bidding out the operations and maintenance (O&M) of the airport. The winning bidder will maintain and operate the facility upon its completion, the DOTC said.

The DOTC is currently bidding out O&M, as well as expansion, contracts for the New Bohol, Bacolod-Silay, Iloilo, Davao Laguindingan gateways under the administration’s public-private partnership program.