Eco-friendly Airport to Rise in Panglao, Bohol

DOTC, Mitsubishi-Chiyoda seal deal for New Bohol Airport Project

A world-class, eco-friendly airport will soon rise in Bohol. The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and winning bidder, Japanese joint venture Mitsubishi Corporation and Chiyoda Corporation holds a ceremonial signing of the New Bohol (Panglao) Airport Project today.

“Tourists in Bohol continue to grow each year that passes. Unfortunately, the current airport may not be able to accommodate the increase over time. This gives us the 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.” said DOTC Secretary Jun Abaya.

The P 7-Billion project will commence in June and is expected to be completed within thirty (30) months or in 2017 to early 2018.

The New Bohol Airport will replace the current Bohol gateway, Tagbilaran Airport, which is the eleventh (11th) busiest airport in the country. Tagbilaran airport catered to around 789,800 passengers in 2013 despite its size of only 850 square meters.

The first greenfield airport under the Aquino Administration is ten 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 environmentally friendly and energy saving features such as the installation of LED lights. To add to that, 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 take over O&M upon the completion of civil works.

Source: www.dotc.gov.ph