Louie Ferrer, GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. president (3rd from left) leads airport and public officials during Monday’s switching on ceremony of the timer starting the countdown for the opening of the Terminal 2 in June.
CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA
MCIA TERMINAL 2
OFFICIALS and stakeholders of the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) launched a countdown yesterday leading to the opening of the new Terminal 2 in June.
Construction of the new terminal is already around 91 percent complete, according to Andrew Harrison, chief executive adviser of the GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. (GMCAC), the private operator of the MCIA.
“The structure is mostly done. Most systems are already installed like the air conditioning, generator. The baggage system is in, X-rays are in, lifts and escalators have been installed,” he said in an interview after yesterday’s “final countdown” event.
Harrison said that in the next months, they would be focusing on the finishing works of the new terminal which costs P17.5 billion.
Concessionaires will also be fitting out their spaces while the contractor continues with the lighting systems and decorative pieces inside the terminal.
GMCAC President Louie Ferrer said that while they are mandated under their concession agreement to open Terminal 2 by July 1, they are targeting actual full operations of the new facility by mid June.
“We are hoping to have the grand opening of Terminal 2 by June 6. We will be inviting the President (Rodrigo Duterte) and some foreign dignitaries. It will be big. We will be showcasing the best of Cebu,” Ferrer told reporters.
Yesterday’s event was attended by Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Paz Radaza, MCIA Authority General Manager Steve Dicdican, Department of Tourism (DOT) 7 Regional Director Shalimar Tamano, Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA) Board members, and other guests.
In her speech, Mayor Radaza said that with the new terminal able to accommodate more passengers and tourists, the city government also takes it as a challenge to improve and meet the infrastructure requirements brought about by the new terminal including better roads.
It is also a challenge for the city government, she added, to address the need for rooms expansion of existing hotels and resorts as well as bringing in more players to invest in the city’s hospitality sector.
Once completed, the terminal is expected to cater to 4.5 million passengers annually, ideally. It could go to as much as 6 million or even 13 million a year.
The new terminal will have three storeys, the highest of which will be the international departures area which will have an elevated concrete road leading to it.
Terminal 2 will span approximately 65,000 square meters and can be expanded further in its second phase.