Speaking during the PAL’s inaugural flight to Busuanga on Sunday, Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) president and CEO Alexander Cauguiran said this was the assurance given by PAL President and CEO Jaime Bautista during a meeting with PAL executives last week.
On Tuesday, PAL launched its Clark-Puerto Princesa-Clark route at the CIA with PR 877departing Clark thrice-aweek (Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays) at 10:50 am and touches down in Puerto Princesa at 12:20 pm; PR877 departs Puerto Princesa on the same day at 1 pm and arrives in Clark at 2:30 pm.
“PAL already has a strong foothold of operations at Clark since December 2016 and by choosing Clark as another one of its bigger hubs, we are looking at PAL’s increase in commercial flights, especially domestic routes, in the next couple of years,” Cauguiran said, adding that this development will definitely boost the airport’s passenger traffic as well.
The Clark-Busuanga- Clark route was launched on Sunday with PR2687 departing Clark daily at 12:10 pm and arrives in Busuanga at 1:30 pm; return flights leave daily at 10:30 am with arrivals in Clark at 11:50 am.
Cauguiran said PAL has also committed to build its own passenger terminal building and a Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility inside the Clark Civil Aviation Complex.
“PAL’S expansion (in Clark) allows passengers to experience our unique brand of service and ensures convenience and connectivity,” PAL senior vice president for airline operations Ismael Augusto Gozon, who spoke during the inaugural Clark-Busuanga flight, said.
The CIAC chief said his management team will soon start negotiations with PAL regarding their future plans for Clark airport.
Meanwhile, the flag carrier announced during its recent three-day expo at Bonifacio Global City that it expects the delivery of more new planes starting this year, with two new Boeing 777– 300ERs set to arrive in December 2017 along with the arrival of the Q400 Next Generation turboprops for domestic flights starting July 2017, and the first of six brandnew A350-900s expected to arrive in 2018.
“Hopefully within the year, PAL will fly directly from Clark to the West Coast of the United States, initially in Los Angeles, a destination which will definitely create a positive impact in our efforts to improve Clark’s passenger volume,” Cauguiran said.
Clark airport hosts PAL’s Cebu, Caticlan, Davao, Busuanga (Coron) routes and international flights via Incheon in South Korea, along with the Clark-Puerto Princesa thrice a week flights which began on March 28.
