Aboitiz InfraCapital (AIC) on Monday officially took over the operations and management of the Bohol Panglao International Airport (BPIA), paving the way for the upgrade of the P8.9 billion facility which was inaugurated in 2018.

The government through the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) represented by Director-General Raul L. Del Rosario turned over the facility to AIC which was led by Aboitiz InfraCapital Cebu Airport Corporation CEO Athanasios Titonis.

Titonis, in an interview following the ceremony, told the Chronicle that upgrade works will start in the following months.

 “The check-in situation is something that we want to change immediately because customer service is very important. We need to optimize this. We have check-in counters that are not connected to the baggage belt and we’re going to change this over the next months,” Titonis said.

AIC targets to increase the airport’s annual passenger capacity from 2 million to 2.5 million within two years.

By 2030, capacity will further expand to 3.9 million by 2030.

According to Titonis, AIC will announce its plans for the expansion and improvement of the facility, which is one of the busiest airports in the Visayas.

“There’s more to come. We will show you very specific plans very soon,” he said.

Titonis however clarified that there will be no major changes to the airport’s main building structure, which was completed only 2018.

AIC, the infrastructure arm of the Aboitiz Group, now has three airports in its portfolio it also manages the Mactan-Cebu International Airport and Laguindingan International Airport. (A. Doydora)