Cebu airport set for expansion

Mactan-Cebu International Airport to handle 8m passengers per year

The main airport serving Cebu City in the Philippines is being expanded and modernized.

Mactan-Cebu International Airport currently handles 4.5 million passengers per year, but the new PHP17.5 billion (US$393m) expansion project will see it grow to an annual capacity of eight million passengers.

The work is being supported Cebu Pacific Air (CEB) – the biggest airline at Mactan-Cebu International Airport. CEB handled 3.3m passengers at the airport last year – almost three quarters of the total traffic.

"We welcome the expansion of the Mactan International airport. Cebu is a very important hub for us. CEB has been operating flights at the Mactan airport since 1996. We are reviewing our network plans out of Cebu and we look forward to offering CEB's low fares to even more travelers," said Jorenz Tanada, CEB's vice president of corporate affairs.

The expansion, which will include the construction of a brand new terminal building, is expected to be completed by 2018. Once complete, Mactan-Cebu International will be the Philippines' second biggest airport, after Manila.

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