President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has given the go-signal for the construction of a shorter service road from Bacolod City leading to the New Bacolod-Silay Airport of international standards in Barangay Bagtic, Silay City, Bacolod Rep. Monico Puentevella said yesterday.

The 10.1 kilometer-stretch leading to the new airport starts from La Herencia in the Barangay Bata portion of the Bacolod Circumferential Road leading all the way to Bagtic, the solon said in a press statement. Once completed, it would take a little over 10 minutes to travel to and from the new Silay airport compared to the 45-minute trip via the present service road along McKinley Street, said Puentevella, chairman of the House Committee on Transportation.

The solon expressed confidence that the feasibility study being conducted by a Korean group on the La Herencia-Bagtic road will be completed late this year or early next year. Once finalized and approved by NEDA, construction will start within the first quarter of 2008, he said.

Meanwhile, contractors are working full-blast on the McKinley section to take advantage of the dry weather, he said.

They hope to hasten work on the bad portions of the service road in time for the opening of the over P4-billion new airport facilities before the year ends, Puentevella said.

The Air Transport Office, the congressman revealed, will conduct another around of test flights shortly to check on the efficiency of navigational facilities at the New Bacolod-Silay Airport.

Last month, the ATO commissioned test flights from New Zealand that landed at the new airport, results of which had been satisfactory. But minor concerns have to be addressed that's why, there is a scheduled second round of test flights soon, the solon said.*

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