MANILA, Philippines - The International
Air Transport Association (IATA) is pushing for the continued improvement of
the operations of the congested Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and
the establishment of an alternative gateway within the metropolis.
Albert Tjoeng, IATA’s assistant
director of corporate communications for Asia Pacific, said the organization is
supporting a single airport solution that is easily accessible from the city.
“The priority for Manila is to
maximize the effective capacity and throughput from the existing facilities.
IATA has provided guidance to the authorities in this regard, such as building
rapid exit taxiways and better slot management. But there is a need to develop
a long term solution to the airport needs of the Manila area,” Tjoeng said in
an e-mail.
Transportation Secretary Joseph
Emilio Abaya earlier said Malacañang is carefully studying three options
including the possibility of shutting down and selling NAIA to reach a decision
on whether the Philippines would adopt a single or twin airport system.
Abaya said the first option involves
a single airport system wherein the government would shut down and sell the
congested NAIA and develop the Clark International Airport in Pampanga.
The second option, he revealed,
involves dual system wherein the government would develop Clark and at the same
time maximize the operations of NAIA until 2025 while looking for an
alternative site for a new airport that would be 25 kilometers or 30 minutes
away from the existing gateway.
The DOTC chief said the third option
also involves dual system wherein the government would jointly develop Clark
and NAIA and then decide whether or not to put up an alternative airport.
"Previously, the direction was to
move all NAIA’s current operations to Clark International Airport within the
next five to seven years. What is clear now is that we need Clark to absorb
some of the traffic in NAIA. Even if initially, it seems more cost efficient to
have a single main gateway, there are dual airport systems existing around the
world that actually perform well commercially,” he earlier said in his speech
before the Makati Business Club (MBC) .
He said the agency is looking at ways
to further increase the capacity of the old NAIA airport to 60 events or
landings and take offs per hour from the average 40 events per hour.
Abaya pointed out that Cabinet
secretaries are leaning towards the second option of jointly developing NAIA
and Clark while looking for a site for a new international gateway. This may
involve the reclamation of Laguna de Bay or Manila Bay as well as the Sangley
airport in Cavite.
The Clark International Airport Corp.
is set to complete the expansion of the existing terminal in the gateway in
Pampanga worth P360 million by October to double the capacity to five million
passengers from 2.5 million and is looking at putting up a new P12-billion
budget passenger terminal.
Last November, IATA director general
and chief executive officer Tony Tyler cautioned countries in Asia Pacific
including the Philippines about too much private investment in the development
of airport infrastructure to support demand growth in the region.
Tyler said governments in Asia
Pacific should take a prudent approach to private investment in airport
development projects as the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, and even Korea
consider the participation of private investors in building airports.
He said that when governments work
with private investors to develop infrastructure, they should establish an
effective economic and service-level regulatory framework to ensure that the
national interest is protected.
For instance, flag carrier Philippine
Airlines owned by tycoon Lucio Tan and diversified conglomerate San Miguel
Corp. is looking at putting up a new airport near Manila as an alternative to
the congested NAIA.
Posts
