“Perhaps airlines can start thinking of using Clark, there’s big number of passengers from the North and plenty of slot and airspace and land spaces available there,” said Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) general manage Angel Honrado.
He added that Cebu Pacific, Cebgo and Air Asia can initiate the transfer to alleviate the air traffic congestion in Manila.
But PGKM chair Ruperto Cruz questioned Honrado’s motive for his pronouncement now that he is on his way out as MIAA general manager and Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) director.
Cruz said Honrado is mainly responsible for stunting the growth of the Clark airport.
Roxas too
“Don’t make fools of us again. We don’t want to be fooled by Honrado and Mar Roxas,” said Cruz.
“This is the same promise made by Roxas in his failed presidential campaign,” Cruz noted.
“They were here for six years and they failed to develop the Clark airport. They’ve done nothing and now they’re trying to promise us again,” he said.
“If they have good intentions, they should have started to develop the Clark airport during the six years that they were in power. But instead, the opposite happened,” Cruz said.
“The PGKM has been pushing for the Clark airport as a clear legacy of the Aquino administration and yet nothing happened. It was apparent that they prioritized their political debts to pay their supporters in Manila,” he said.
Cruz said when Honrado was CIAC director, he did not lift a finger when Air Asia Philippines and the other airlines opted to leave Clark.
“In fact, we suspect that Honrado must be one of the people whom we suspect are out to sabotage the development of the Clark airport,” he said.
“We’ve waited long enough, we don’t mind waiting for a couple of more months for their replacements,” he said.
Honrado made the suggestion during a tripartite meeting and signing of memorandum of agreement to efficiently use the available slots for domestic air carriers.
