Tugade, Sydiongco inaugurate newly developed Gensan airport
DEPARTMENT of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Art Tugade, together with Civil Aviation Authority o fthe Philippines (CAAP) Director General Jim Sydiongco inaugurated the newly developed General Santos Airport in Brgy. Fatima, General Santos City on Thursday.
Tugade and Sydiongco were joined by General Santos City Mayor Ronnel C. Rivera, General Santos Lone District Representative Hon. Shirlyn Bañas-Nograles, General Santos City Vice Mayor Loreto B. Acharon , DOTr Usec. Giovanni Lopez, DOTr Usec. Raul Del Rosario, PPA General Manager Jay Santiago, airline stakeholders, and local/regional officials.
“May pandemya o wala, ang Duterte Administration ay patuloy sa paggawa nang sa gayon, ang kapwa Pilipino ay magkaroon ng comfortable and convenient life.” Secretary Art Tugade expressed in his message. He also stated that development projects in General Santos Airport will continue, including the airport’s control tower reconstruction next year to further meet the airport’s requirements.
Among the projects that CAAP and DOTr completed in General Santos Airport include the P434,291,656.59 rehabilitation and expansion of passenger terminal building completed on September 22, 2021, the P107,221,487.40 procurement and installation of navigational aids completed on July 25 this year, and the PHP 23,426,321.43 construction of CAAP administration building completed on October 5, 2020.
The newly constructed two-storey CAAP Administration Building, with an estimated floor area of 900 square meters, now serves as new office space for all administrative personnel of the Airport. The admin building project also includes concreting of its Vehicular Parking Area.
From a previous area of 4,029 square meters, the Airport’s Passenger Terminal Building now has a total of 12,240 square meters. These development projects were able to provide job opportunities to around 380 workers during the airport’s construction phase.
Sydiongco said the upgraded General Santos Airport, which can now accommodate up to 2 million passengers per annum from the previous 800,000 passengers, is seen to reinforce the thriving economy of its city, providing travelers with convenient and comfort on the way to one of the country’s influential economic centers.
Projects to continuously develop the General Santos Airport are now ongoing, such as the 91,888,888 upgrade of Gensan Airport’s power system which is targeted to be finished by the end of this year; as well as the improvement and construction of its facilities, targeted to be completed by November 18, 2021.
