With runway repair completed
TACLOBAN CITY – The operations at Daniel Z. Romualdez (DZR) Airport located in San Jose district, this city, are set to resume regular flight schedules within the week.
Danilo Abareta, the regional head of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), made this announcement in a media interview on Tuesday (June 4).
Flight operations at DZR Airport, the premier airport of Eastern Visayas, were disrupted after a section of its 2.1 km runway, covering 12 square meters, peeled off due to frequent landings and takeoffs on April 3.
The CAAP undertook repair works that were initially expected to last until August, impacting the airport’s flight operations.
During the repair period, DZR Airport operated from 6 am to 6 pm.
Abareta announced that with the repairs completed on Monday (June 3), the airport’s schedule will return to its original hours of 4:40 am to 8:30 pm.
Currently, DZR Airport, which services flights to Cebu and Manila, has 19 daily flights.
“We finished the repair work on Monday. Once we file our notice to airmen (Notam), we will resume the original operations from 4:30 am to 8:30 pm,” Abareta said during the media forum organized by the Philippine Information Agency (PIA).
He attributed the swift completion of the runway repairs to favorable weather conditions.
“We had initially targeted the repairs to be completed by August, anticipating bad weather, but fortunately, we had good weather,” Abareta explained.
Abareta also mentioned that they expect an increase in passenger volume due to the upcoming fiesta of Tacloban on June 30.
Meanwhile, he said they have received requests from airline companies to increase their flights to Tacloban.
“But due to the limited capacity of our terminal building, which can only accommodate 600 passengers, we cannot act on these requests at the moment,” he said.
Cebu Pacific has already announced plans to increase their flights from the current 41 weekly flights between Tacloban and Manila to 48 next month.
The DZR Airport is undergoing major rehabilitation for it to accommodate more and bigger aircrafts.
JOEY A. GABIETA
