CLARK FREEPORT –At least four senators are calling for an upgrade of air transportation facilities across the country, especially at the Clark International Airport (CIA) here.
The call has gained ground after the runway closure at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) on Thursday that led to the disruption of hundreds of flights.
Despite the reopening of the runway on Saturday, excessive delays continued to force flight cancellations stranding thousands of travelers including overseas workers.
Senator JV Ejercito in public pronouncements said the runway mess is a signal for a new airport to be built.
“The single international runway will not really work anymore. Government has to decide now where to build,” he was quoted as saying.
Pending the construction of a new airport, the government can opt for a twin airport system between the CIA and NAIA, just like Haneda and Narita in Tokyo, Ejercito said.
The senator also urged the government to fast track the construction of a Philippine National Railways line to CIA and its P12 billion terminal building.
The new terminal is expected to be operational in June 2020. It can accommodate 8 million to 10 million passengers every year, said Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) president and CEO Alexander Cauguiran.
The airport currently accommodates only around three international flights every week, he said.
Some 24 flights were diverted to the Clark airport during the closure of NAIA’s runway, he added.
Senator Win Gatchalian said the government needs to build better airports and more runways to keep up with the steadily rising air traffic.
“The closure of NAIA due to the Xiamen Air incident underscores the importance of immediately upgrading Manila’s air transportation infrastructure,” Gatchalian said in a statement.
“Improving our air transportation infrastructure is critical to fostering economic growth and tourism development. Most importantly, we have to make sure that accidents like this will not be able to paralyze air transportation going to and from the capital city of our country,” he added as he urged the Senate to adopt his resolution seeking a legislative inquiry into the status of Metro Manila airports.
Former senate president Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III said the recent runway mishap at the NAIA shows the need to decongest the country’s main gateway and develop other air transport hubs.
The said lawmakers stressed this point days after a Xiamen Airlines aircraft skidded off NAIA’s main runway late Thursday. The incident led to flight cancellations and delays, which affected thousands of passengers.
In a statement, Pimentel said there is a need to have at least two main air hubs similar to the Haneda and Narita airports in Japan.
“We require two airports as our main international gateways. NAIA can serve South Metro Manila and Southern Luzon to Bicol and Clark can address the needs of passengers from North Metro Manila and Northern Philippines,” Pimentel said.
He noted that both hubs might share handling of travel and logistics flow to the Visayas and Mindanao.
Pimentel said the “underutilized” Clark airport could service flight transfers of international passengers.
“If you’re going to the province anyway via a connecting flight and you don’t need to stay in Manila, Clark International could be a better transfer point. Proposals such as these can work and should be tried,” he said.
“An integrated transport system is needed to fully realize Clark’s potential. We require a convenient, high speed rail network from Pampanga to Manila, as well as more flyovers and wider NLEX lanes,” Pimentel said.
Sen. Richard Gordon said the latest incident at NAIA stressed the need to hasten the reopening of the Subic Bay International Airport.
Not only passengers but also airlines and companies doing trade and commerce were affected by the closure of NAIA’s main runway, he noted.
“As it was, passengers of canceled flights were still stranded at the NAIA up to Sunday and awaiting announcements on their flights. If the SBIA was already opened, flights could have been diverted to the two airports—SBIA and CIA,” the former chair and administrator of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority said.
Last July, Transport secretary Arthur Tugade floated again the plan to restore the Subic airport.
“I think the airport will be operational in due time. Perhaps, it will be operational before the first… second quarter next year,” he said.
Meanwhile, it was learned that a separate investigation into the latest runway closure is underway. Airport officials are now looking at several factors, including bad weather on Thursday night and communications between the pilot and control tower.
