Reopening the Cotabato airport will help the economy and tourists grow
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AIRPORT REOPENING. Workers at the Cotabato Airport guide passengers on Sunday (Oct. 1, 2023) in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte, as the facility reopened after 100 days of ceasing operations due to major repairs since June 22 this year. The repairs included the asphalt overlaying of its runway and the rehabilitation of the passengers’ terminal building. (Photo courtesy of BARMM Tourism Director General Rosslaini Alonto-Sinarimbo)
MindanaoHerald | Reopening the Cotabato airport will help the economy and tourists grow | COTABATO CITY – A local business group said on Monday that the return of commercial flights to the Cotabato Airport on Sunday will likely help the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM)’s economy and tourism.
The head of the Bangsamoro Business Council (BBC), lawyer Roland Hallid-Torres, said in a statement that the airport’s reopening would help tourism and business in the region, which would help the region’s economy grow.
“This has a positive impact on the business sector as we will be able to go back to our usual operations that necessitate connectivity,” said Torres.
The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) calls the airport a major internal airport. It shut down for about 100 days, from June 22 to September 30, so that the runway could be fixed and the passenger terminal building could be fixed up.
The Awang Airport is in Barangay Awang, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte. It is also known as Cotabato Airport. Maguindanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Lanao del Sur, and the cities of Cotabato, Tacurong, and Kidapawan are all served by it.
The airport opened again on August 19, but only for military and small private planes.
Sunday morning, Cebu Pacific Air’s first business plane arrived at the airport with people from Manila on board.
The Manila-Cotabato Philippine Airlines flight landed an hour later, and the passengers cheered as the plane came to a full stop, according to Rosslaini Alonto-Sinarimbo, Director-General of the Ministry of Tourism, Investment, and Trade. (via PNA)
