CAPA awards MCIA 'Asia Pacific Airport of the Year'

The Australian-based Centre for Aviation (CAPA) has awarded Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) the 'Asia Pacific Medium Airport of the Year'.

cebu airport
Image Source: ABS-CBN News

According to CAPA, the said award is given to the airport with '10 to 30 million annual passengers that has been the biggest standout strategically and established itself as a leader and done the most to advance the progress of the aviation industry.'  CAPA uses an independent international panel of judges to determine who gets the awards. 

The award comes on the heels of the opening of MCIA's Terminal 2 earlier in the year.  The new terminal, catering exclusively to international flights, is envisioned to be the 'World's Friendliest Resort Airport' according to the Department of Transportation.  Officials have looked forward to its operation to be able to offer the same facilities as other world-class airports in the country. 



MCIA General Manager Steve Dicdican said that '[t]he opening of the new international terminal follows a highly successful privatization, positioning the airport for rapid growth and making MCIA a model for other airports in the Philippines and throughout Asia'.  For his part, GMR MEGAWIDE Cebu Airport President Louie Ferrer indicated that as other airports were built with glass and steel, 'we [MCIA] stayed true to our island resort identity, with Cebu being one of the world’s favorite resort destinations.'

CAPA also recognised MCIA in 2016, when the former gave the latter the 'Asia Pacific Small Airport of the year' award.

The new terminal has expanded the airport's capacity to 12.5 million per year from the original 4.5 million.  More international flights, as well as frequencies to existing flights have been added.  For instance, Philippine Airlines has added a fourth frequency between Cebu and Nagoya, Cebu Pacific has expanded its Cebu-Hong Kong flights to 10 times a week, and Sichuan Airlines now has a daily flight between Cebu and Chonquing.  Tiger Taiwan also started a flight between Cebu and Taipei on December 2 and Cebu Pacific also started four weekly flights between Cebu and Macau on December 7. 

Sources: Manila Bulletin, SunStar Cebu

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