Torres: GIAA ready for military relocation

The head honcho of Guam’s airport authority believes that the Antonio B. (A.B.) Won Pat International Airport is ready for the influx of 8,000 U.S. Marines and 9,000 of their dependents from Okinawa, Japan.

Guam International Airport Authority executive manager Jess Q. Torres said they are ready to absorb a growth of 5-7 percent in additional passengers generated by people directly related to the military and indirectly related because of the capital projects that will be associated with the military buildup.

“We feel we are [ready] but the best thing to do is plan based on the resources we have, based on the master plan that we’ve put [together]. Success in that is in your ability to adapt to changes. Not just natural but also man-made; whether it’s economically driven by outside the island or economically driven inside the island. If you can stay on top of that one, I think we will be doing our job as to what the people would like us to do,” he said before making his presentation in last Wednesday’s 2008 Pacific Aviation Directors Workshop held at the Fiesta Resort & Spa Saipan.

He said that in terms of airport infrastructure, GIAA would need to expand its runways, put underground electrical systems, water systems, cables for communication purposes, reinforce terminal facilities—in case there are natural disasters—to accommodate the 17,000 or so “new arrivals.”

Already, according to Torres, GIAA is ahead of the curve as witnessed by the scheduled opening of its expanded 10,000-foot runway in June. He added that their current 10,000-foot runway should be extended to 12,000 feet to accommodate larger and heavier aircraft.

“We are ahead of the 8-ball, metaphorically speaking. One of our runways will be open to commercial use by June of this year. We had to stretch it from 8,000 feet to 10,000.”

The anticipated relocation is not without its share of problems though, as Torres readily admitted.

“Obviously when you relocate that number of uniformed personnel and their dependents any transition of that magnitude to us islanders is a big event. We have limited land resources, among other things. But I’m an eternal optimist, you [try and] work with people. We as a local people cannot do it ourselves but that’s [true] for any development of this magnitude. [It will] have an impact on the civilian community and that’s why our governor (Carlos Camacho) has established the Joint Civilian and Military Task Force so that inputs can be had for most sectors of the community.”

Torres also hopes that while GIAA has one eye on the relocation of uniformed servicemen from Okinawa, it will train the other in maintaining Guam as a tourist destination.

He added that aside from the military relocation, GIAA also wants a piece of burgeoning trans-Pacific business from the Middle Kingdom—China.

“The action is in China and we are right in the middle between China and the U.S. so we want to take advantage of that business opportunity.”

In terms of revenue generated by the explosion of people coming in and out of Won Pat, Torres preferred to be conservative with his estimates.

“It’s going to be a gradual effect [in income and revenues] because the activities just don’t happen with the confined time schedule. As I understand it, the buildup is gradual. Obviously, it’s our hope that if they use our facility, which I hope they will, that becomes an additional revenue for our airports. So, it could help pay our bills and any additional revenue we could pour it back to the infrastructure. Keep it up to date, keep it state-of-the-art.”