BORONGAN CITY — The Borongan City airport moved closer to opening its commercial operation after a major airline company completed an inspection of its viability.

Borongan City Mayor Dayan Agda said the completion of the study on the viability of opening a flight route done by Cebu Pacific gave the city government more optimism that commercial flights will be opening soon for the city.

"We welcome this development in our bid to open our airport to commercial airlines. We thank Cebu Pacific for their interest in our city and of course, we appreciate the efforts of the city flight operations team in negotiating with major airlines in the country," Agda said.

"We are one step closer to bringing direct flights to Borongan," he added.

The Cebu Pacific Flight Operations Safety and Security team conducted on 14 to 16 September an inspection at the airport to study the viability of opening a flight route.

Cebu Pacific Capt. Carlo Aclan told city officials that the airport has no "showstoppers" or obstacles in terms of technical operations for flying.

Agda said the opening of the airport to commercial flights will help boost the economy of the city and Eastern Samar province.

Earlier, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines confirmed that Borongan Airport is ready to accept flights managed by major airlines. CAAP allowed the local airport to negotiate with commercial airline partners.

Borongan City Information officer Rupert Ambil said the airport is prepared to accept commercial operations pending minimal improvements and procurement of relevant equipment.

"Ready na tayo na i-welcome ang ating mga kababayan pabalik ng Borongan through our local airport. We are hopeful we can provide a much-needed Christmas homecoming to our beloved kababayans," he said.