CLARK FREEPORT—Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) President and CEO Emigdio P. Tanjuatco III said airline companies, including Cebu Pacific (CEB) and Philippine Airlines (PAL), could begin local commercial flights at the Clark International Airport (CIA) “even by tomorrow,” because they have no flights the whole afternoon every day.
In a phone interview on Saturday, Tanjuatco said the CIA averages about 16 flights per day, but it has no flights from noon until 6 in the evening. He said they have 100 flights per month.
Tanjuatco said commercial airlines operating at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) “fight for the schedule, from 2 to 4 p.m., for their local flights, and we have it at Clark. We can accommodate five flights per hour, and we can have 30 local commercial flights from noon to 6 p.m.”
Tanjuatco said they could also accommodate five flights in the morning every day.
The CIAC president and CEO said their lone local flight is the CIA-Cebu route offered by Cebu Pacific. He said CEB’s thrice-weekly flight leaves in the evening.
“If they grab the available time slots, we don’t have to add people and equipment. But the private airlines should also help by providing their own ground personnel,” Tanjuatco said.
In his recent State of the Nation Address, President Duterte said, “Clark can be utilized to shift some operations of domestic and international flights of airlines.”
Tanjuatco welcomed and lauded the statement of Mr. Duterte.
At present, the Clark Passenger Terminal has the capacity of 4.2 million passengers per annum as compared to the Naia’s 30 million capacity, he said. But the Naia and its four terminals were frequently plagued by flight delays and passenger congestion.
Tanjuatco said CIAC had already made some programs for the development of Clark airport that include the upgrading of its services and facilities. The services include ground handlers, security and airport infrastructure.
Image credits: Jojo Due