By Freddie G. Lazaro
STA. ANA, Cagayan – The Cagayan North International Airport (CNIA) in Lal-lo town is set to receive its first international commercial flight from Macau on March 23, according to Secretary Raul L. Lambino, administrator and CEO of the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA).
“We are ready to open CNIA to East Asia and the North Pacific to commercial flight,” said Lambino.
He also gave an update on activities at the airport during the recent meeting of the Regional Development Council (RDC) of Region 2 in Santa Ana, Cagayan.
“The first domestic flight by Cebu Pacific to the Lal-lo town airport will follow in April,” he said, adding CNIA can now receive the heavier A320s and B737.
“This has been years in coming, but what was so difficult to do, we at CEZA have finally done it,” said Lambino.
“To get to Santa Ana, you don’t have to fly to Tuguegarao City anymore, which is a three-hour-drive from here,” he added.
Lambino said the developments are a “strong signal to potential locators from Asia and North America that it is no longer business as usual at CEZA.”
“With a new leadership, CEZA can be trusted to do the right things for the medium and long terms,” he expounded.
The last quarter of 2017 and first two months of 2018 saw CEZA step up the pace of construction of the remaining runway facilities required by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) for CNIA to acquire “full aerodrome certificate.”
These included the development of the Runway End Safety Areas (RESAs) on both ends of the 2.1-km runway, and the runway strip width running along the edges of the 45-meter-wide strip.