CIAC President-CEO Emigdio Tanjuatco III said “Jin Air’s daily flights send a clear signal of the aviation industry’s trust and confidence in the Clark International Airport.”
“This is a welcome development and we thank Jin Air for this,” Tanjuatco said.
He noted that “the daily flights of Jin Air would greatly contribute to the increase of passenger volume this year as Clark airport aims for three million passengers within the next two years.”
Tanjuatco expressed hopes that other airlines operating at Clark would also increase their flight frequencies amid growing passenger demand. Since 2011, JinAir, formerly Air Korea, had been flying only four times weekly between Incheon and Clark, although it has also been flying from Clark since 2008 to Macau, Guam and Bangkok.
The airline is a subsidiary and a low cost carrier of South Korea’s flag carrier Korean Air.
Clark Airport is host to other airlines such as Asiana Airlines, Qatar Airways, Dragonair, Cebu Pacific Air, CebGo (formerly Tiger Air Philippines), Seair, and Air Asia Berhad.
Tanjuatco said that CIAC is currently in talks with other airlines for possible operations here. He said CIAC is also luring back Emirates and AirAsia Philippines which suspended their Clark flights in 2013.
He said that the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) has been fully supportive of the development of Clark Airport, citing the recent initial approval of the National Economic Development Authority Investment Coordinating Council (NEDA- ICC) of P1.2 billion for a new passenger terminal here.
The project is set to be discussed in the NEDA board meeting this month, before it is presented to Pres. Aquino for approval.
