Commercial flight operations at the Surigao City airport resumed Monday, months after these were suspended due to the impact of Typhoon Odette, local officials said.
“Happy to welcome the resumption of commercial flight (Cebu Pacific)… today, March 28, 2022,” city tourism officer Roselyn Merlin said in a Facebook post.
The resumption was also confirmed by the Surigao City Public Information Office in a separate Facebook post, quoting the local Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines officer, Engr. Junelito Abrazado.
Merlin said that commercial flights at the airport were suspended from Dec. 17, 2021, a day after Odette hit land, to give way to the rehabilitation of the damaged facilities.
Non-commercial flights though, particularly those for relief operations using Philippine Air Force aircraft, were allowed during the period.
Cebu Pacific flight DG 6881, which ferried 66 passengers from Cebu to Surigao City, landed at 9:40 a.m. Monday, said Merlin. Its return flight, DG 6882, has 45 passengers.
The resumption of the commercial flights will boost economic activities in the province, especially tourism, Merlin said.
“It will increase tourist traffic to the city especially this time of the year, summertime, which is peak season for Surigao , Siargao and Dinagat,” she added.
Travelers, including businessmen, will no longer have to pass by Butuan airport for their flights, she said.
“Until next month, flight frequency will be twice a week, Monday and Friday, per info from the CebuGo Surigao office. Hopefully, it will increase by May and in the coming months with the support of Surigao travelers,” said Merlin.
Prior to Odette’s devastation, the airport underwent rehabilitation for two years until 2019 after its runway was heavily damaged by a magnitude 6.7 earthquake in February 2017.
A previous statement by the Department of Transportation said that the rehabilitation of the runway at that time allowed it to be extended by 340 meters from its original length of 1,000 meters.
Merlin said that Abrazado’s office aims to soon complete repairs to the airport’s terminal building and its surroundings for the safety and comfort of passengers.
Odette, the country’s most devastating typhoon to hit the Philippines since super typhoon Yolanda in 2013, struck parts of Mindanao and the Visayas, affecting 10.6 million people, including those in the lower parts of Luzon.
