Mactan-Cebu Int’l Airport Terminal 2 unveiled
CEBU CITY – The government and its private partner, GMR Megawide Cebu Airport Corporation (GMCAC) inaugurated Thursday the 117-billion Terminal 2 (T2) of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA), the country's second largest gateway.
The new terminal which is part of the administration's infrastructure program, will start commercial operations on July 1 and is expected to boost passenger traffic by 12 percent, from 10 million in 2017 to 11.2 million in 2018.
GMR Megawide Cebu Airport Corporation (GMCAC) president Louie Ferer said the new terminal will enable Cebu to cope with steadily increasing passengers and open the city to more international flights.
GMCAC is the government's private sector partner for its flagship MCIA, the first airport project to be inaugurated under Duterte's term.
MCIA reached 10 million passengers last year, up 11.72 per cent from 8.93 million in 2016. Air traffic movement also grew 20.62 percent to 87,570 last year.
MCIA recorded a total of 66,120 domestic flights last year, up 17.64 per cent from 56,210 the preceding year while international flights increased 30.84 per cent to 21,440 from 16,390.
The new T2 will cater to international flights while the existing Terminal 1 will handle domestic flights.
The MCIA is also one of the busiest airports in the Philippines. As the premiere gateway to the Visayas and Southern Philippines, MCIA has an original capacity for only 4.5 million passengers per year.
With a total of 25 international destinations, 30 domestic destinations and 26 partner airlines, MCIA is no longer just a secondary airport.
Construction of the T2 building officially started in June 2015 to reduce airport congestion and boost the airport’s annual passenger capacity.
Hong Kong-based Integrated Design Associates, which previously worked on projects at Beijing Capital, Delhi-Indira Gandhi and Hongkong Airports, forms part of the MCIA T2's design team.
The T2 was designed in collaboration with world-class Cebuano and Filipino artists, as well as international design and architectural firms to provide a welcoming ambiance that is distinctly Filipino.
With a floor area of 65,000 square meters, twice more than the 27,000 minimum floor area in the concession agreement, the new terminal is designed to increase the airport’s total handling capacity.