The only viable reason for an airport in Panglao is as an alternate emergency landing field for Mactan. Other than the short term economic benefits for Bohol which will infuse millions, maybe billions, of pesos in the local economy, mainly to those who have positioned themselves to get a return on their investments or political influence, there are few other reasons, like safety and capacity
While Mactan itself may meet
ICAO (RPVM) and
IATA (CEB) regional standards, In order to meet full international standards, it needs to have a close by emergency alternate landing field capable of recovering any aircraft using it. The current Tagbilaran (ICAO - RPVT and IATA - TAG) airport does not meet the standards required to backup Mactan. The runway is too short and both the runway and flightline ramp does not have the weight capacity to handle aircraft larger than the 737 fully loaded or the A320/319 with weight restrictions.
The airport has no
IFR capability needed for night time and bad weather landings and takeoffs and no way to add them. There are critical safety issues most especially for takeoffs using Runway 17 and landings using Runway 35 which could result in a major disaster for downtown Tagbilaran. Other than the passenger terminal limitations already mentioned, there is no
FBO operations at the airport.
To answer other rhetorical and cynical questions, naming it Mactan II would cause major communications confusion for
ATC and pilots
. Just like the Cebu airport is referred to as Mactan not to confuse it with the former Lahug, Panglao would probably referred to as "Panglao" not to confuse it with the current Tagbilaran airport.
There would be no or very little local costs for the airport operations and maintenance itself, mainly funded by Natl Govt and airlines/users, but there would be huge and increasing costs to build and maintain the support infrastructure for the airport including roads, bridges, power, communications, water, sewage, housing, etc and the personnel qualified to do the job along with the continuing training needed to maintain currency and technology qualifications.
The municipal and provincial govts will have to come up with the funds to hire and buy and maintain equipment or contract out the support infrastructure work. Some of the initial costs may be offset by funds from the Natl Govt, but will that funding continue? There should be some economic benefits from the increase of taxable tourist revenue gained but its is questionable if it will offset the increased support infrastructure costs for the airport.
Airline travel has become IMHO a wretched affair. Many airlines, especially US domestic carriers treat you like they're doing you a favor and manage you like cattle when you fly in the economy classes. Since 9/11/01, the security restrictions have made commercial flying almost intolerable. the best way to limit your misery is to fly with as few stops to your destination. I did this in 2005, bypassing Manila by flying directly to Cebu where the hassle was much less than going thru Manila, then taking the hydrofoil to Tagbilaran.
The worse effects of the airport will be the ecological and environmental impact on Panglao, which may even effect tourism there. Unless this is very well managed and maintained, this can be a costly effect, difficult to reverse. If left to the vigilance of the local tree huggers, commercial and political entities will rule the day. Even here in the US where there are strong environmental regulations, they have been bypassed by political intrigues and commercial manipulations.
The Panglao airport looks like a done deal. The best we can hope for is that the construction and maintenance as well as the supporting infrastructure will be well managed and maintained uncorrupted by the political and commercial greed. That is a tall order here in the US let alone in the Philippines. Let's also hope that the local social culture will not be impacted with the adverse opportunities that projects like these usually attract...joey
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