Mactan-Cebu Airport is the second largest airport in the Philippines and has seen a growing number of travellers using it. In 2017, the airport served 10 million passengers to various international and domestic destinations. It's network has made it a viable alternate for those looking to visit the Philippines without having to head to the country's capital. Since the Philippine Department of Transportation handed over the responsibility of managing the airport to GMR- MEGAWIDE Cebu Airport Corporation (GMCAC) in 2014, the airport has seen developments accelerate further. Lately, folks in Cebu and the Philippines are anticipating the opening of its new international terminal which they hope would make Cebu the “friendliest gateway destination” for travellers heading to the Philippines.



While talks are ongoing to address the congestion and lack of space at Manila's Ninoy Aquino Airport, Cebu has been a viable alternative gateway for travel to the Philippines. They've been touting its new, world-class terminal building - MCIA Terminal 2 - and so far it looks like a worthy gateway to the Philippines. Once opened, it will handle international flights while domestic flights will remain at the current terminal. The kind folks of GMCAC sent some photos of the new terminal, giving us a glimpse of what to expect before it opens this summer.









The exterior of the terminal will resemble waves in an ocean, enclosed by a light and transparent facade.













The arrival area of the new terminal resembles what you may see in major international airports throughout Asia. It appears to have a spacious design resembling Hong Kong or Terminal 3 at Manila's Ninoy Aquino Airport with more natural lighting.









The arrivals area will see baggage carousels larger than what you will find at the current terminal.









Just imagine that once completed and with more details, the spacious main hall could a lot of travellers posting social media posts and selfies with it as the background.





Once completed, the new terminal will boost the airport's designed capacity to 12.5 million passengers a year. The design team was comprised of local designers Budji Layug, Royal Pineda and Kenneth Cobunpue along with Hong Kong-based Integrated Design Associates (IDA). IDA has an impressive resume when it comes to designing airport experiences, having previously worked on Hong Kong, Delhi-Indira Gandhi, and Beijing-Capital airports.

There's definitely more to aesthetics when it comes to airport experiences, which many people will get to try out when GMCAC starts doing trial runs before it welcomes its first flight. If you happen to be travelling to Cebu this year, you may want to start planning your trip and get your cameras ready.





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