TACLOBAN CITY -The Daniel Z. Romualdez (DZR) Airport here will become an international airport by 2025 with ongoing and future projects lined up to improve the facility, according to an official of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) here.

With available funds for development this year and commitment from the national government to pour in more budget in the future, the facility will elevate its status from a major domestic airport to an international airport by 2025, said CAAP Eastern Visayas Area Manager Danilo Abarreta in an interview on Tuesday.

The construction of new passenger terminal building Phase 1 with a budget of PHP731.6 million is now 47.41 percent complete. The second phase of the project will start early this year with a budget of PHP700 million, according to CAAP.

"The total cost to develop the terminal building is PHP1.96 billion. It will have a total area of 36,298.98 square meters and can accommodate 1,670 passengers. The building design is inspired by San Juanico Bridge and city's coastal mountain landscape merged with Taklub fishcage," Abarreta said.

The existing passenger terminal building refurbished after Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) has a 600-seating capacity.

Funding to fully complete the building is already available, to include the PHP1.42 billion release for 2023 earlier announced by the Department of Budget and Management.

Abarreta said the first phase in the PHP49.9 million construction of control tower structure is now complete. Up for implementation is the second phase which involves the PHP17.73 million installation of communication equipment.

The budget to acquire 131,539 square meters of lot is already available this year, according to the official. This will allow the expansion of the runway length from 2.1 kilometers to 2.5 kilometers. The runway extension project will be implemented in 2024.

"The medium-term goal is to meet the international runway length standards to accommodate international flights come 2025," Abarreta told the Philippine News Agency.

The Department of Public Works and Highways recently completed the PHP46 million new access road leading to the airport.

Between 2023 to 2027, the Department of Transportation aims to complete and operationalize the new terminal building and control tower, lengthen the existing runway, provide runway end safety area of 200 meters on both ends, complete the construction of the new taxiway leading to the new apron, among others.

The DZR Airport is one of the country's busiest with 36 daily flights between Manila and Cebu.

The airport in the regional capital was ranked as the country's 7th busiest as of September 2022 with 975,127 million inbound and outbound passengers. The airport is busier than the other eight international airports in the country.

Named after Daniel Z, Romualdez, a former speaker of the House of Representatives, the airport serves as the main gateway from Manila and Cebu to Eastern Visayas. It is located in the city's San Jose district. (PNA)