Cagayan airport ready for commercial flights – CEZA exec

CEZA CEO Raul Lambino. INQUIRER FILE

TUGUEGARAO CITY – The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has accredited the Cagayan North International Airport, which is now ready “for commercial flights, both domestic and international,” said Raul Lambino, administrator and chief executive office of the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) in a statement on Monday.

The airport in Lallo town has opened a new international gateway to the Cagayan Special Economic Zone and Freeport, augmenting traffic brought by the Laoag International Airport on the western side of Luzon, Lambino said.

Quoting analysts, the Ceza chief said a fully-operational Lallo airport will give major Asian entrepreneurs and global investors “easy, convenient access and faster travel time to the Freeport headquartered in Santa Ana, Cagayan.”

Along with ICAO, which assigned the airport’s four-letter location indicator of RPLH, CNIA has also received an International Code Assignment of LLC (limited liability company) by virtue of its becoming a member of the International Air Transport Association, Lambino added.

“Published in the global map of international air travel, both accreditations ensure the airport’s full-capacity operation that is likely to turn it into a major entry point in Northern Luzon,” he said.

Lambino said that while the airport had been operating chartered flights from Macau, considered Asia’s casino gambling capital, its development plan included a high-tech facility that “will meet the growing demands of our different clients in the near future.”

Lambino sits as chair of the CNIA Corporation, a joint venture of CEZA with the private firm Cagayan Land — a subsidiary of First Cagayan Leisure and Resorts (FCLRC), which is one of CEZA’s master licensors for the Freeport’s offshore inter-active gaming industry.

Various foreign groups, Lambino said, have shown interest in redeveloping the 300-hectare CNIA property into a state-of-the-art logistics aviation hub and one-stop shop with independent revenue- generating assets designed to meet the demands of the aviation industry.

“CNIA’s masterplan calls for the construction of hangars for aircraft, VIP jet services, navigational system upgrades and advances, MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) facility, FBO (fixed-based operator) aviation service, airline crew training center, general aviation and commercial flights,” he said. /cbb