By John Noel E. Herrera
The suspension of international flights at the Iloilo Airport in Cabatuan town remains in place as airline companies have not yet requested the resumption of flights.
Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. said that despite the downtrend in COVID-19 cases and the provincial government’s readiness and preparedness for the resumption of international flights, there are still no demands or requests from airline companies for direct flights to and from Singapore and Hong Kong.
“Not yet and they have not asked. We are ready for that (resumption of flights), ang importante lang nga may demand. Sa aton wala na ‘ya prohibition, waay na and we want the flights to increase now,” Defensor said.
Defensor requested to suspend international flights at Iloilo Airport way back in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The governor said that an airline company earlier expressed interest in resuming international flights, but it withdrew following the first confirmed monkeypox case in the province.
“There’s no demand. Nag-simulation na kita and we are ready, but I think, ang request, there’s one airline that requested, but hindi anay sila magdayon, so hindi siya mag-resume,” he said.
Meanwhile, Defensor shared that he had already talked with the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP)-Iloilo about the improvement of the facilities in the airport, especially its comfort rooms and monitoring and security devices.
“I have talked to our (CAAP-Iloilo) manager there, except that ang aton nga airport subong may problema man sila kay wala pa sina da ang procurement sang mga gamit nga kinahanglan nila, wala pa matapos, and they are also experiencing delay in their processes,” Defensor said.
“Naka-ayu naman kita na dira for better maintenance sang aton toilets, and again, of course, we will talk again para mag-improve pa, lakip man dira ang aton mga CCTV,” he stressed.
The governor added that while international flights remain suspended, domestic flights have already started to go back to normal, as data from CAAP-Iloilo indicated that the airport now caters to 20 flights with every flight having 170 to 200 passengers.
“Pero you know, ang aton flights dira, I checked with the manager, gamay na lang man ang diperensya sang pre-pandemic flight kumpara subong. I think nine flights na lang ang deperensya,” he said.
