Duterte, Tugade inspect dev’t project in GenSan
GENERAL Santos City and the rest of Mindanao will benefit from the transportation initiatives in the aviation and maritime sectors as these will capitalize on the city’s resources, resulting in economic and employment opportunities for Filipinos, Transportation Secretary Art Tugade emphasized Monday.
Tugade said the development projects in the General Santos Airport and in the Port of General Santos will also bring comfort and convenience to airport and seaport passengers. He made the statement during the inspection of airport and seaport development projects in General Santos City together with President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.
“In the quiet of our endeavors, we worked on the projects as quietly as we can. But in the quiet of our endeavors, nakaka-produce ‘ho tayo ng mga proyektong ganito,” Secretary Tugade said.
Joining Duterte and Tugade during the inspection were Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) Director General Jim Sydiongco and Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) Jay Santiago.
Once the development projects are complete, General Santos Airport will be the first airport in Mindanao to have cutting-edge and innovative contactless features similar to those found in the Clark International Airport in Pampanga. This will make airport services effortless, safe, and convenient for all users, said Tugade.
Tugade also announced that the airport, through Philippine Airlines (PAL), will start international operations to and from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia via the GenSan-Kuala Lumpur-GenSan route on December 9, 2021.
“Matagal na panahon na ‘yung estado ng GenSan as an international airport ay nabinbin at nasuspinde. Ngayon, dahilan sa pagbabago na inintroduce natin sa termino ng ating mahal na Pangulo —announcement: December 9 of this year, the Philippine Airlines has formally signified to us that they will again start here their international operation, GenSan – Kuala Lumpur – Gensan,” Tugade added.
With the expanded passenger terminal building (PTB) of the General Santos Airport, Secretary Tugade said the gateway can now accommodate two million passengers annually from its previous annual capacity of 800,000 passengers.
