Iloilo Airport remains closed during GCQ

By Emme Rose Santiagudo

As Iloilo City and Iloilo province moves into General Community Quarantine (GCQ) today, May 16, 2020, Iloilo International Airport in Cabatuan town will remain closed, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) Iloilo Terminal Supervisor Art Parreño confirmed on Friday.

Based on its Notice to Airman (NOTAM), Parreño said operations in the Iloilo airport will remain suspended until June 10.

“We are still waiting for the guidelines coming from the national office of CAAP and the national Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Covid-19,” he said in a phone interview on Friday.

CAAP issued the NOTAM on March 20 due to the threats of Covid-19, according to Parreño.

Parreño said that they applied for another NOTAM extending the closure of the airport when the national government also extended the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) in Iloilo province.

He emphasized that the airport will remain closed until June 10 unless lifted or revoked by national authorities

“After ma-expire ang aming NOTAM, we applied again for another NOTAM until after that is lifted or revoked by the national IATF and CAAP, then we are considered closed. Another NOTAM will be issued once Iloilo airport will resume its operations,” he said.

In the meantime, Parreño said they are currently preparing the Iloilo airport for the “new normal” scheme in air travel.

Parreño said they have established hand-washing areas in the airport as part of the safety measures against COVID-19.

Terminals and check-in areas are also being prepared in terms of the practice of social distancing, he added.

“We are preparing the terminals and check-in counters for the new-normal. We have to ensure that social distancing will be practiced. We also have established hand-wishing areas, foot baths, and alcohol and sanitizers in the airport,” he said.

Parreño said all airport personnel are also preparing face shields and face masks for the new normal scheme.

Operations of the Iloilo airport have been suspended since March 18 due to the threats of Covid-19.

The suspension affected all domestic and foreign flights which accounted to about 50 flights daily, according to Parreño.