Calbayog Airport Now

I was at this airport two hours before my flight's scheduled departure, and it was not open yet haha! Sabi ko na nga ba, the folks over at Marju Krisel Resort were just too praning that I might be late for the flight. Ayan tuloy hehehe! See my fellow passengers, at 04:55AM, waiting for the airport to open for a flight scheduled to leave at 06:50AM.

It was still dark, and a bit chilly since its been raining last night, and there we were with nothing to sit on, outside the Calbayog City Airport. Good it was not raining anymore. Gosh 'no?!

Well, that's life in the province, everything and everyone move veery slowly, hehehe. And who said I have to be at the airport at least 2 hours before my flight? Aber?! Well, I saw that the x-ray people were already there, ready for action. But I know this, they waited for the PAL people to give them the "go-signal" to start receiving passengers.

Eh, what can you do, yun lang yata ang flight from this airport today. A plane with a capacity of just 86 passengers, if at all full! So I know those airline people were taking their time lazily. Bahala na if passengers like me and those folks in the picture above, were standing in the cold outside the airport with nothing to sit on.

By 05:30AM, we were finally let in. And not even 15 minutes passed, I already had my boarding pass and paid the mandatory terminal fee of fifty pesos! The plane hasn't arrived yet, so I decided to go out, perchance the little eateries at the side of the building may have already opened. And indeed they were. So I had breakfast! Yey!

I had tapsilog and instant coffee. Ubos na daw ang Milo. Paano nangyari eh I was their first customer? The correct phrase should have been "walang Milo" - and probably add in... "kasi nakalimutan namin bumili kahapon". Ganun! Anyway, the tapsilog was good and I enjoyed sitting around, doing nothing, just watching out for the sun to come out.

As I sat there, alone, nagliwanag din ang kalangitan...

It started to look like this was going to be another wonderful day (morning at least). The skies are in that mood these days over the waray-waray countryside - nice bright mornings, then rain in the afternoon, and intermittent rains, thunder and lightning throughout the evening. Until another morning comes, and the cycle repeats itself.

And then I saw this "free delivery"... Aba magaling! Child labor!

But I opted to stay mum about it. I instead jokingly told that boy "sukti hira hin delivery charge ha"?! In hinter-towns like this (o sige na City, Calbayog CITY), such acts are common - children being part of the small business equation but without remuneration.

That delivery time was exactly 06:05AM. This child had to wake up early on a Sunday to fulfill that role? Oh, the other kid is probably his playmate. Hmm, maybe they also call this delivery function as part of their morning play.

Who knows too, one of the five recipients of that coffee delivery might even be his parent, right?! It's like that in this country... most of the businesses in and around a government facility are 'usually' owned by the government workers of that facility themselves and/or their relatives. So hindi sya child labor, ihahatid ang kape ni ama. Asuus! Anyway...

When the plane arrived, I went back in, but circled out front first to take this shot...

Just for a souvenir shot. For the nostalgia hehe. Just to let you in on a little history of my life: I have departed and arrived at this airport many times in the past. But the last I remember was probably in the late '80s! Can't even remember if it was YS-11, HS748, or SD360 hahaha! Hush na lang you who think we're in the same 'bracket' :D

Alright, I went inside to await boarding. And this is what I stumbled upon...

Nowhere to sit, even if the plane capacity is just 86 passengers! Yeah, that is how cute the Calbayog Airport's pre-departure area is. Kairo man entawon. But I do hear that this airport is about to be spruced up (kuno)!

There... the rest of my fellow passengers... (or the rest of the pre-departure lounge)

How do you want to call this... Standing Ovation? Or SRO (Standing Room Only)? Or all of the above hehehe. But as I said above, I did hear some news last year that this is going to get some upgrade. I can't recall though, if the thing to be upgraded is this airport - meaning the building, or the runway, or both. I hope it will be both.

If I remember right, the 'usable' runway here is only somewhere around 1,500 meters (1.5km) which is not rated for big jets like the airbus that flies to Tacloban. So, even if you upgrade, beautify, widen, enlarge or awesomize this airport building, it will be a worthless investment since planes coming here will just be as what there are now - propeller planes with capacities of not even a hundred. Let's see what happens in the near future.

And we boarded finally!

I stood waiting at the departure lounge for exactly just 10 minutes. Buti na lang I went out to have breakfast, watch the kid do his coffee delivery, tambay, muni-muni, and yosi outside! Otherwise, I would have been part of that "standing ovation" longer than I could tolerate hahaha!

Oh well, let's hope for the best of this airport!