CLARK FREEPORT – Transportation and Communications Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya said the Clark International Airport (CIA) is being prepared as “an international hub alongside the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and Sangley airport for the decades to come.”
He said as part of the government’s “long-term airport strategy,” both the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and the Clark International Airport Corporation (CIAC) are pouring investments into the “Clark aerotropolis development.”
Abaya’s statement came in the wake of allegations from the multi-sector advocacy group Pinoy Gumising Ka Movement (PGKM) based here that Abaya had backed plans to develop a new international airport at Sangley Point in Cavite because he is from Southern Tagalog.
The PGKM had batted for the full conversion of CIA into the country’s premiere international gateway, as specified in an executive order of former Pres. Ramos way back in 1994, amid congestion at the NAIA.
“We see Clark International Airport (CRK) as a premier gateway alongside NAIA and Sangley, especially in view of its rapid growth over the past few years, as well as government’s development plans for the entire economic zone and the rest of the region.
This is the direction we are taking for presentation to the President, for his consideration,” Abaya said. “The airport’s passenger terminal building (PTB) was expanded last May, providing new and modernized facilities to better serve the public and boosting annual passenger capacity to around 4 million from the previous 2.5 million,” he said.
The P417-million improvement project increased the PTB’s size from 11,439 square meters to 19,799 square meters, and increased its check-in counters from 13 to 34. In order to accommodate more passengers and ease queuing, 12 departure counters and five arrival counters have also been added.
The modernized portion of the terminal itself has eight entry points and three customs stations. This allows CIA to expand its airport operations by accommodating more international flights from Qatar Airways and Emirates, Abaya noted.
(Emirates started a Dubai-Clark-Dubai daily flight in October 2013 and terminated it last May. – Editor) CIA’s expanded operations began last May, upon the completion of its Passenger Terminal Expansion Project (Phase II).
Abaya noted that for the airport’s longer- term development, the DOTC and CIAC earlier this year commissioned Aeroports de Paris (ADP) – which owns and operates the French capital’s airports– to prepare a master plan for the aerotropolis and a feasibility study for the construction of a new P7.2-billion low-cost carrier (LCC) terminal to enhance the airport’s increasing popularity as a regional hub.
“ADP presented its concept design for a new LCC terminal to DOTC and CIAC officials last month, and CIAC is now scheduled to present this proposal to the National Economic Development Authority–Investment Coordination Committee in August.
The proposed new budget terminal will boost CRK’s capacity further to between 8-16 million passengers per year. We are hoping for a smooth process in order for the project to be completed within 2016,” Abaya noted. He said that “these exciting new developments signal even greater economic progress for Clark and the entire region in the coming years.
We at the DOTC are encouraging its growth by equipping the airport with modern facilities to meet passenger demands today and in the future, and we hope that CRK will indeed become the low-cost carrier hub of choice for the region.”
