TAGBILARAN CITY — Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Arthur Tugade arrived in Bohol on Tuesday aboard a plane that test landed at the New Bohol Airport which is under construction in the island town of Panglao.
Tugade was joined by National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Ernesto Pernia and Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco, Jr.
The DOTr secretary fulfilled his earlier promise to return and do a test landing and inspect the progress of the new airport.
The national government officials were met at the Operations Center by Governor Edgar Chatto, Tagbilaran City Mayor John Geesnell Yap, and Japanese project managers Tadashi Aoi and Aisuke Ando.
Tugade told reporters the airport is on track to open for commercial operations by August 2018.
The airport will be finished by June 2018.
Due to regulatory requirements, the opening for the commercial operations will be two months after.
Tugade said the expansion of the airport had been taken into consideration. Once the expansion is implemented, the airport would be capable of catering to trans-Pacific flights and not just regional flights.
The runway is scheduled to be completed by end of the year, while the terminal building is scheduled to open by February 2018.
Tugade was in Bohol back in September when the DOTr hosted the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting on maritime safety in Panglao. (Dave Albarado/PNA)
