In anticipation of the increase in air traffic in Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA), two runways are being proposed to avoid operational disruptions and air traffic congestion at the airport.
Philstar.com reported that Steve Dicdican, the general manager of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA), said preparations are ongoing for the construction of additional runways that will serve as an alternative for the main runway during an emergency, repair and maintenance work.
Meanwhile, a parallel runway is being eyed by the MCIA’s operator, GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. (GMCAC), to increase the capacity of the airport to accommodate aircrafts of Cebu’s main gateway.
Dicdican noted that the additional runway is important to ensure the single runway airport’s operation to continue despite disruptions while the proposed runway will support the air traffic growth which is expected to increase to 43 air traffic movements per hour by 2032.
“We need both projects. We need the proposed independent runway if we are to have a complete solution to the runway congestion that have plagued busy airports,” Dicdican told The Philippine Star.
We do not want to wait until 2032 or until our single runway’s capacity threshold is reached before we do something to protect and improve our runway operations,” he added.
The additional runway is expected to be finished by 2022, while the proposed parallel runway is projected to be completed by 2032.
