Cebu Solon: Use Proceeds of Mactan Airport Privatization for 2nd Runway

Rep. Raul del Mar (Cebu City, north district) has pushed for the use of the PHP14.4-billion proceeds in the privatization of the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) to build the airport’s second runway.

The GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. (GMCAC) paid the government PHP14.4 billion it was granted the 25-year concession to manage and operate the Mactan airport terminal in November 2014.

“A second runway project is important because in Manila, while there is no traffic in the international terminal and the scheduling of flights, there is traffic now on the ground, not in the air,” del Mar said.

He said he has had to wait long for his flight to taxi and take off many times during peak hours in the Ninoy Aquino International Airport,.

“Good if it is just a couple of minutes. But in some occasions it has gone to 30 minutes and even an hour,” del Mar said.

Del Mar said such a problem hasn’t been felt in Mactan yet, but the addition of flights with the opening of a second airport terminal means that the airport’s second runway ought to be built soon.

It will also help the MCIA compete with other airports, including Clark, for additional flights and passenger traffic, he said.

He said he didn’t want the existence of only one runway in Mactan to “be the stumbling block that will not give us the growth in flights coming in from other parts in the world.”

Del Mar also said he learned from MCIA General Manager Nigel Paul Villarete that only PHP5 billion is left of the PHP14.4 billion after the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) collected 30 percent in taxes and further reduced with the national government’s 50 percent share.

Del Mar said he wanted to be sure the remaining PHP5 billion would be allocated for the second runway in Mactan, so that Cebu won’t have to suffer the runway and air traffic that have been observed in Manila. (PNA) JMC/EB/SSC