LINGAYEN, Pangasinan — The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) has allotted a total of PHP50.7 million for the asphalt overlay of runway, improvement of perimeter fence, construction of one bay fire station building, construction of staff house and other upgrading projects for the Lingayen Airport this year.
In an interview on Wednesday, Lingayen Airport manager Job De Jesus disclosed that the construction of the fire station building worth PHP3.5 million will begin this week.
“We have just finished with a pre-construction conference and the contractor will mobilize to start the construction this week,” he said.
The asphalt overlay of the runway, which has the highest bulk of allocation at PHP27.7 million, is still up for bidding since the last bidding held for the project failed.
Nonetheless, he assured that the lined-up upgrading for the airport will happen this year.
“It (upgrading) will definitely start this year. July to October will be the procurement months for the other constructions and after that, the implementation will start,” he added.
The concreting of apron with drainage canal and the construction of runway canal worth PHP10 million; improvement of perimeter fence worth PHP8 million; construction of staff house worth PHP1.5 million and provision of additional septic tank worth PHP75, 000, are also part of the total upgrading project for the airport, said de Jesus.
He further said that their goal is for the airport to accommodate commercial flights, which is also the pleading of the people here.
“We are catering to general aviation, but at present, only small aircraft, usually flight training planes for students from aviation schools are using the airport here,” de Jesus said.
He added that their next project proposal for the airport is the development of the runway, which only measures 1,040 meters by 30 meters, construction of a turn-around pad at the end of the runway and upgrading of the runway surface.
The Lingayen Airport has a total land area of 10.4 hectares. (Hilda Austria/PNA)
