Volume of passengers in Tacloban Airport up by 13% in 2012

By Philippine Information Agency (PIA 8)
February 17, 2013

TACLOBAN CITY – The number of passengers at the Daniel Z. Romualdez (DZR) Airport increase by 13% reaching 1.14 million in 2012 as against the 1.01 million that was posted in 2011, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) informed.

CAAP Eastern Visayas area manager Antonio Alfonso said the number of incoming and outgoing flights also rose by 10.5% with 10,030 in 2012 from 9,074 in 2011, making the airport as one of the busiest in the country. April was the busiest month on record for the DZR Airport with total passenger traffic of 115,587, accounting 10% of last year’s volume.

Manager Alfonso said the factor contributing to the 2012 passenger volume rise is the launching of SEAIR (Southeast Asian Airlines), another low cost carrier bound for Manila. Cebu Pacific also opened the new Tacloban-Iloilo route, he said.

The CAAP Eastern Visayas area manager said the passenger volume has been consistently increasing every year with 627,108 in 2008; 892,425 in 2009; 907,347 in 2010; and 1,015,797 in 2011. The airport has seen growth as airlines added their capacity and new service to and from the destination terminal.

On a daily basis, the DZR airport serves 11 Manila-bound flights of Cebu Pacific (CEB), Zest Air, Air Philippines, and SEAIR; and two Cebu-bound flights of CEB and Air Philippines. Iloilo-bound Cebu Pacific aircraft uses the airport three times weekly.

The airport manager said that with the consistent rise of air passengers using the DZR Airport, there is a need to improve and upgrade the facilities of Tacloban Airport in accordance with international civil aviation and safety standards.

Meanwhile, in a report to the Regional Development Council (RDC), the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) informed it will implement a P2.12 billion Tacloban Airport development project from 2013 to 2016. The report said that that the contractor is awaiting for the notice to proceed of the actual construction.

The project consists of four components, the construction of apron and taxi way, the completion of North-East shore protection, the construction of drainage system, and the construction of temporary transition.