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Mactan Cebu airport arrival – Part 1

We were treated to a somewhat pleasant surprise upon arriving in Cebu’s Mactan International Airport a couple of weeks ago. The surprise was that our plane taxied to and berthed at the new Terminal 2, which was for international flights.

A view of the MCIA Terminal 2 from our taxiing aircraft

A closer look at MCIA T2 as our plane turned towards the apron

Passengers deplaning via the T2 tube

A view of MCIA T2 from the airbridge

View of the tarmac and one of the airbridges as we walked along the corridor lined along the terminal’s departure level that connected to another corridor for the old Terminal 1.

Corridor along Terminal 2 connecting to Terminal 1

A snapshot of the tarmac

The interior design elements of MCIA Terminal 2 evoke a local, Asian flavour

Spacious corridor towards Terminal 1

A look at an aircraft berthed at MICA T2

Bridge connecting Terminals 1 and 2 with a view of the air traffic control tower

Passengers walking to T1

Interphase of T2 with T1 at this point of the bridgeway

More on MCIA soon!

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Back in Cebu

I am back in Cebu for a few meetings for a conference we are organising together with the University of San Jose-Recoletos. Upon landing, I snapped this photo of the Mactan Cebu International Airport’s second terminal, which is designated for international flights. The control tower is also in the photo as well as part of the old terminal that is used for domestic flights.

View from our Cebu Pacific Airbus A320

I will post about the airport and some street scenes in Cebu in the next days. But before those, I think I still have one on Zamboanga airport that I have been procrastinating about. I will also post something about the conference we are organising later in July. Abangan!

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Back in Zamboanga – arrival

I was back in Zamboanga last week for a short workshop. We were supposed to arrive just before 6AM as we took the first flight from Manila. Our flight was delayed, however, and we arrived around 7:30AM instead. I will write about this in another post. Meanwhile, here are some photos upon our arrival in Zamboanga International Airport.

We deplaned from the rear door of the aircraft and that afforded me this shot of the plane and the terminal.

I admire the architecture of the airport terminal. It is an example of architecture appropriate for the city/locale with its rich cultural heritage.

Luggage of arriving passengers are unloaded from the aircraft while a tanker refuels the plane. You can see the fuel hose attached to the wing of the aircraft.

Passengers enter the arrival area of the terminal

Passengers and stevedores crowd around the single baggage conveyor at the claim area.

We found this interesting tarp as we exited the airport terminal showing some statistics on Zamboanga’s population.

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Cauayan Airport departure

Here are photos I took of the Cauayan City Airport upon our departure from the city. This is the sequel to the previous post of photos when we arrived there during a trip earlier this month.

View of the airport terminal as we approach it on board tricycles

Here’s the only concessionaire inside the terminal and practically just beside the check-in counters. Sorry, no last minute shopping for souvenirs or pasalubong here.

Cebu Pacific’s check-in counters

Philippine Airlines’ check-in counters near the terminal entrance security check – obviously, it’s very crowded in this area

Pre-departure lounge area near the designated PAL gate

Pre-departure lounge area near the designated CebPac gate

Another view of the pre-departure lounge

Private planes sitting on the tarmac – there are many farms in Isabela that are operated like companies. Many produce rice. And many are owned by corporations whose owners/execs regularly fly in via their own or chartered aircraft.

Our plane taxiing towards the runway

A view of the runway as we turned in preparation for the take-off

A view of the end of the runway as our plane turned

Aerial (bird’s eye view?) photo taken just after take-off showing the farms in the area

I will be sharing more aerial photos soon including some snaps of the Magat Dam, which was the major hydro infrastructure in the area.

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Cauayan Airport arrival

I have so far never failed to take photos of the airports I have gone through in my travels here or abroad. The following photos are of Cauayan Airport in Cauayan City, Province of Isabela in the Cagayan Valley Region (Region 2) to the north-northeast of Metro Manila.

Taxiing towards the apron and the terminal. One can also see the control tower to the right.

Passengers walk to the terminal with each given an umbrella to shield themselves (partially) from the punishing heat of the sun. Isabela is one of those provinces where the heat indices reach well above 45 degrees C.

A look back to the aircraft and passengers deplaning to head to the terminal.

The baggage claim area had a single conveyor belt

Passengers gathering around the belt to claim their checked-in luggage.

Another view of the conveyor

Luggage start to come out as most passengers are gathered around the conveyor.

A look back at the arrival exit of the Cauayan airport terminal

A quick look and photo of the airport entrance for departing passengers.

There are no taxis in Cauayan so its either you book a van or take the local ‘taxi’ in the form of tricycles. Most of these are motorcycles with sidecars but there are also many new tuktuk types, which are more spacious and comfortable to ride.

Tricycles, motorcycles and private vehicles parked at the airport. That’s the control tower in the background.

More photos of Cauayan Airport as well as aerial shots soon!

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New ramps for enplaning/deplaning

We were able to use the ramps I mentioned in a previous post. In a recent trip to Cagayan De Oro, we deplaned from the forward door of the aircraft where the ramp was engaged. Here are the photos showing a closer look at different sections of the ramp.

The first ramp upon exiting the aircraft

The second ramp section with passengers basically facing the plane

Final (lower) ramp sections

A look back to the ramps before we walked to the passenger terminal building

I wonder how many of these have been made and deployed at airports around the country…

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Persons-with-disabilities- and senior citizen-friendly ramps for aircraft

The trip to Cagayan De Oro via Laguindingan Airport allowed me to take photos of the new ramps being used in our airports. These ramps are suitable for persons with disabilities and senior citizens who may have difficulties ascending or descending the usually steep stairs of aircraft from or to the ground. Not all airports have the tube or bridges connecting the terminal to the plane. Here are some of the photos I took at Laguindingan Airport prior to boarding our plane to Manila.

Compare the ramps to the conventional stairs for the rear door of the aircraft.

Meanwhile, smaller aircraft such as the turboprop plane below have built-in stairs. But these planes are lower compared to the larger Airbus 321’s we flew on our way back home.

I also saw the same ramps at NAIA when we deplaned near Terminal 3. But it seems Cebu Pacific is the only local airline who are using these? We hope there would be more of these in every airport in the country. That will definitely be for the benefit of all and not just those with physical disabilities or physically-challenged.

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Airport access by bus at NAIA Terminal 3

The recent trip also afforded me some quick photos of the arrival level driveway of NAIA Terminal 3. Here  are some photos including those of airport taxis and buses serving the terminal and its passengers.

The arrival level (ground level) driveway is not very crowded at 5:30 AM.

From Bay 11 there are taxis and express (e.g., P2P) buses waiting for their passengers. There are booths on the terminal side for those making inquiries or booking their rides. That’s the Runway Manila pedestrian bridge connecting Terminal 3 to the Resorts World Manila complex at the top part of the photo.

Airport P2P buses include those headed for Clark.

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Another look at Laguindingan Airport

A quick trip to Cagayan De Oro allowed me to take a few more photos of the airport at Laguindingan. Here are more photos of the airport including the runway and the major buildings.

A look at the length of Laguindingan’s runway as our plane turned towards the terminal

From L-R: hangar, cargo terminal, passenger terminal and control tower

A closer look at (L-R) the cargo terminal, passenger terminal and control tower

The passenger terminal and control tower

Laguindingan’s cargo terminal

Air Asia plane at the passenger terminal

The Air Asia plane did not use the bridge for embarking/disembarking passengers

Bridge access to the terminal

An arriving passenger’s view of transport service providers upon exiting the airport terminal

Air traffic control tower.

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Laguindingan Airport – departure

I almost forgot to post this item on Laguindingan Airport. It somehow got lost among the many drafts I had already started but remained unfinished. Here is the departure part of the feature on Laguindingan Airport, which is now the major gateway to Northern Mindanao. The layout and design of the airport reminded me of Iloilo’s International Airport what with the spur road, parking lot and driveways that are somewhat similar between the two airports.

Approaching the airport

Parking lot across from the terminal building

Driveway at the departure area – taxis and other PUVs use this driveway

Driveway for private vehicles

Check-in counters

Cebu Pacific counters

Philippine Airlines counters

View of the airline check-in area as we ascend to the departure level via escalator

Pre-departure area

Pre-departure area

Pre-departure area

Shops at the terminal’s pre-departure area

Charging station at the pre-departure area

Not shown in the photos are other shops and restaurants in the pre-departure area including the Seattle’s Best Coffee and Kenny Rogers Roasters. There are also good souvenir items for sale at the many concessionaires at the pre-departure area. Among those to be considered for some last minute shopping are food and beverage items like peanuts, pastries and coffee. There’s also a shop selling meat products, which I highly recommend. They have hams and bacon for sale, which they package well so it survives the trip all the way to your home.

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