Airport Observations

Eversince I was assigned in Mindanao three years ago, I have become a “frequent flyer”, since my job as the promoter of missions in the Dominican Province of the Philippines and as superior of our mission in Mindanao requires me to go to Manila every now and then for meetings and other concerns. It is also an opportunity for me to visit my mother (who is already 86 years old) in my hometown, Malabon.
There have been a few changes and a little improvement at the airport of Gen. Santos City since I moved here in 2012. There was a time that the X-ray machines of the airport were out of order for several months, or probably even for almost a year. On my latest trip to Manila this month, they now have new X-ray machines, and the area before the check in counters was improved. It now provides an ample space for outbound passengers. There is also free Wi-Fi at the airport, but it is not consistent. Sometimes it is difficult to get connected. The air-conditioning at the pre-departure lounge has improved a little bit, but I can imagine it can be worse especially during hot days and on peak seasons. More seats have been added for use of the departing passengers. One boarding gate is assigned for Philippine Airlines passengers and another gate is assigned for Cebu Pacific Airlines passengers. Philippine Airlines has a lounge for their Mabuhay class or business class passengers. There is a restaurant at the second floor of the airport and a snack bar and a “pasalubong” shop at the pre-departure area. There are other shops outside where tuna products and other souvenir items may be bought.
The first flights in the morning are almost always on time. But the succeeding flights, more often than not, are always delayed for about 30 minutes up to about 2 hours. To make use of my waiting time at the airport, I would sometimes check my e-mail or write my articles for my weekly column on Davao Catholic Herald (as what I am doing today). Today my flight to Manila is delayed for a little more than one and a half hours. It’s a good thing that there are television sets showing some programs for the waiting passengers to watch.
At the airports in Manila, it is easy to tell where the arriving passengers come from by merely looking at their checked in cargo. If there are boxes and crates of fruits, like durian, pomelo and mangosteen and the arrival area smells like durian, that flight must be from Davao City. If however, the cargo of arriving passengers are of various sizes of styrofoam boxes, one can tell that the flight comes from Gen. Santos City. Once in a while I would see an elongated box wrapped with an abundance of packaging tape. I am almost sure and I can tell that it contains “lechon” from Gensan! In Gen. Santos City, there are so many lechon houses and lechon from the city are cheap and delicious.