Aside from passengers, the management of the Davao International Airport (DIA) has required all employees, concessionaires, and security personnel to wear face shield within the airport premises.
“For Davao International Airport we took the initiative of requiring all persons na musulod sa atong airport premises kasi in my mind very ironic ang pasahero lang ang ga-face shield so for the protection of everybody and for the well-being of everybody, we issued an airport advisory requiring all persons entering the airport premises to wear face shield aside from the passengers,” said Engr. Rex Obcena, manager of DIA, in a virtual presser.
Obcena said DIA has implemented the wearing of face shield to inbound and outbound passengers at DIA after the Department of Transportation (DOTr) issued a Memorandum Circular requiring all passengers in any mode of public transportation to wear face shield. This is on top of the mandatory face mask as an added protection to minimize the risk of exposure to the Covid-19 virus.
The directive applies to all public transportation throughout the country, involving the aviation and airports, railways, road, and maritime sectors.
DoTr emphasized that the foremost rationale behind this additional protocol is to protect and ensure the health and safety of the people from this dreaded virus that has already infected millions around the world.
“Nag-patuman nata sa memorandum circular sa DoTr the mandatory wearing of face shields aside from the face mask for inbound and outbound air passengers,” Obcena said.
Obcena assured that all health protocols issued by the city government of Davao are being implemented and observed at the airport.
He said DIA is fine tuning protocols for the general aviation or non-commercial flights and will be coming up with a clearer guidelines for the general aviation aircraft especially those coming outside of Davao Region and Mindanao.
“Katong mga eroplano nga gikan sa Luzon and Visayas. We require all especially those coming from outside Mindanao be subjected under the RT-PCR test here in the city. It’s just a matter of polishing the guidelines in coordination with concern stakeholders for a clearer communication,” he said.
Presently, DIA has two flights per week per airline per destination and to date approved destinations are the following: Manila, Cebu, Clark and Iloilo. For Manila, there are six flights per week and also Cebu; Clark has two flights per week.
“Because of the requirements particularly on health and the social distancing affects the number of passengers na masulod lang sa eroplano. Right now we are looking at 70 percent of the load capacity on the average. Medyo controlled pa but we are very hopeful as we go along we will improve more on our system and our facilities so that we can add more flights,” he said.
