| Business Mirror Written by Bong Garcia Jr. / Correspondent |
| Tuesday, 08 December 2009 19:24 |
ZAMBOANGA CITY—Business leaders and government officials in the island-province of Sulu expect the recent completion of the Jolo Airport runway expansion to spur trade and investment in the province.
The airport runway was extended from 1,200 meters to 1,845 meters and widened from 18 meters to 30 meters, and is now an all-concrete runway.
The Sulu business leaders and government officials said the airport improvements will allow the facility to accommodate larger-bodied aircraft such as Boeing 737s and Airbus 320s.
Jolo Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Nonoy Go said that prior to the completion of the project, the old runway could accommodate only 18-seater planes.
A single 18-seater commercial plane currently flies the Zamboanga-Jolo route and back daily.
“Now that the airport has been improved, Philippine Airlines [PAL] and Cebu Pacific [CEB] are studying the viability of opening flights from Zamboanga to Jolo, and possibly direct flights from Manila to Jolo,” Go said.
Go said that the expanded runway is expected to be a major selling point among investors, particularly those involved in the Sulu archipelago’s expanding mariculture industry.
“Sulu has an abundance of agricultural and sea products, and the ability to get these products to market quickly would boost the local economy,” Sulu Gov. Abdusakur Tan said. “It helps the peace situation when people are engaged in gainful livelihood.”
Jolo Airport officer in charge Usman Agsari disclosed that PAL and CEB are conducting feasibility studies on Sulu’s cargo and passenger volume traffic to determine the frequency of their future flights to the island-province.
The province of Sulu comprises of 19 municipalities and with a total population of more than 840,000.
Jolo Mayor Hussin Amin recalled that the cancellation of large commercial flights to Jolo in the 1990s had a negative effect on local business.
“The entry of new carriers now will definitely help the economy, particularly if we have direct flights,” Amin said.
The expansion of the Jolo Airport runway was realized through a partnership between the Philippine and United States governments.
It was implemented by the provincial government, Department of Transportation and Communications, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, and United States Agency for International Development-funded Growth with Equity in Mindanao Program, through its Regional Impact Project component.
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