A look at airlift expansions going on near ASEAN resorts
A look at airlift expansions going on near ASEAN resorts
Popular beach resorts looking to drive tourist arrivals and attract more branded property locators
Airports serving Southeast Asia’s best-known resorts are now undergoing massive upgrades to widen tourist footprint and reinvigorate real estate activity. If those weren’t enough, new airports are being built altogether.
The Godofredo P. Ramos Airport, which serves visitors to the wildly popular tourist hub of Boracay Island in the Philippines, is extending its runway by 1,800 metres, enough to accommodate Airbus and Boeing single-aisle jets.
Across the South China Sea, the Vietnamese government has tapped property developer Sun Group to build a new airport, Quang Ninh, that will serve fliers to Ha Long Bay. Costing VND7.5 trillion (USD331 million), the airport will accommodate four medium to large aircraft.
More: Could Cambodia’s southern coast be Asia’s next resort hotspot?
Experts say that these developments will catalyse the completion of resort properties, in turn escalating land prices and drawing more internationally branded properties.
“Raising airlift capacity can broadly stimulate not only tourism and hotels but had a halo effect for real estate, yachting and a far broader economic footprint,” said Bill Barnett, managing director of hospitality consultancy C9 Hotelworks.
Boracay’s renovated airport is expected to welcome nighttime fliers for the first time. Ultimately, the development will come hand in hand with liquor conglomerate San Miguel Corp’s plans to build a toll bridge linking Aklan Island, where the airport is situated, to Boracay.
More: These Thai resorts are trumping Bangkok right now
From the airport, visitors to Boracay currently need to ride jetties to the island. Also, the airport limits landings to turbo-prop planes.
Many foreign visitors to the island come by way of the much-farther Kalibo International Airport.
Meanwhile, the Vietnamese government expects 2 million passengers a year to take advantage of the Quang Ninh Airport when it opens in 2017.
Airlift expansions have been paying off recently for some ASEAN destinations. In Indonesia, high-profile projects around the Komodo National Park like the Sudamala Resort and Le Pirate Beach Club launched after the opening of a new terminal at the nearest airport in Labuan Bajo in 2015.
Source: Property Report