The A. B. Won Pat International Airport Authority, Guam (GIAA) issued a Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) issued at 09:00 on May 27 after a final inspection of airfield and navigational aids, opening Runway 6L/24R for operations.
"At this time, the GIAA runway is open for humanitarian and essential cargo operations only, with prior permission being required. We had the first cargo flights coming in this morning from Saipan, Rota, Kwajalein, and Yap transporting military relief personnel, equipment and essential cargo," said John "JQ" M. Quinata, executive manager of the GIAA.
"We anticipate the first relief flights will follow tomorrow, transporting FEMA and critical federal response workers coming to aid in the island's recovery from Typhoon Mawar," Quinata added.
"For the initial relief flights, we will be working in close coordination with the US Customs and Border Protection and Guam Customs and Quarantine for humanitarian personnel clearance," the GIAA executive manager further said.
The Airport previously announced anticipated resumption of commercial passenger services for Tuesday, May 30, 2023 which is aligned with the NOTAM issued. GIAA will be meeting with airlines on the plan of execution.
"I want the public to know that employees of the GIAA, as well as those of airlines, tenants, vendors, and contractors have been working tirelessly around the clock to get the terminal ready for inbound and outbound passenger processing. Testing of all GIAA and federal regulatory technical systems and equipment required for safe and secure passenger processing is ongoing to ensure conformance with regulatory and security requirements," Quinata said.
Meanwhile, GIAA advised passengers to contact their airlines directly for flight status and rescheduling their flights.
Guam Airport to open May 29
Meanwhile, in a subsequent announcement, GIAA said after working around the clock to address the impacts to the airport terminal building, equipment, and operations by Typhoon Mawar, the Guam International Airport Authority will open on May 29, 2023 at 3:00 p.m.
"We greatly appreciate everyone's patience as the collective airport team of employees, airlines, contractors, vendors, tenants, and regulatory agencies have worked tirelessly to repair and prepare our airport for passenger operations," said Quinata.
"We previously announced a target date of May 30th to reopen. The Airport's Emergency Coordination Center has operated 24/7 to address the damage and efforts towards recovery has been robust and sweat equity by all our airport partners allows us to open earlier than anticipated."
The Airport has phased in to normal operations with a restricted opening for humanitarian and essential cargo flights on May 25, 2023, bringing much needed supplies and emergency personnel to Guam.
GIAA noted that these operations will continue for typhoon recovery efforts.
"As we reopen, I want to ensure we set the expectations for all our passengers. We are open, but we are still recovering to pre-typhoon levels as we continue to improve passenger experience," Quinata said, adding that all passengers should expect delays as all of our airport partners throughout the departures and arrivals process continue to recover to pre-typhoon operations.
It added that airlines are anticipated to file their flight plans with the GIAA to begin flight operations and to bring their regularly scheduled operations online — and passengers were advised to contact their airlines directly for flight status and rescheduling their flights.
