TAGBILARAN CITY — The Bohol provincial government eyes a massive recruitment drive to fill up the manpower needs for the operation of the new Bohol Panglao Airport.
Governor Edgar Chatto, in statement Saturday, said the manpower requirement should be satisfied before the airport opens in August.
At present, the airport needs at least 190 aviation and customs officers to man the new Bohol Panglao Airport which is due to open for commercial operations by third quarter of 2018.
Reports coming from the Capitol’s Effective Development Communications (Edcom) Unit said the airport operations require about 600 aviation employees and customs officers and personnel to handle a 24-hour airport operation.
Currently, there are only two Bureau of Customs employees stationed at the Tagbilaran Airport.
The Tagbilaran Airport will be transformed into a business park or a special economic zone once the airport in Panglao opens.
Chatto last week sat down with officials of the BOC and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) to iron out the manpower and other needs of the airport for smooth operation come August.
The BOC-CAAP group was led by BOC-Cebu Deputy Collector for Administration Wivina Pumatong, who inspected the office, administration and operation areas for the Customs at the airport on Panglao Island, said the statement from the Edcom.
In a television interview, Department of Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade named the Bohol Panglao Airport as one of the three “world-class” airports due to be operational this year.
The two other “world-class” airports are in Cagayan de Oro City and the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA), where a new terminal is under construction.
Pumatong told Chatto the BOC is assigning 40 officers and personnel, while CAAP will detail 150 men for the initial airport operation starting in August this year.
The airport will initially be opened for daylight flights. Night time flights will be allowed by 2019 when all of the night time safety aviation facilities and equipment are installed.
The CAAP sees a massive need of about 400 officers and personnel to operate the airport that is 30 years in the making and costs about PHP7 billion.
The airport’s runway has been extended to three kilometers to allow bigger model aircrafts to take off and land. (Dave Albarado/PNA)
