Infra development

Sunday, October 30, 2011

INFRASTRUCTURE development should be accelerated to speed up the transfer of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) operations to the Clark International Airport.

Among these infrastructures are the development of a seamless transport connection between Clark and the rest of Metro Manila such as a high-speed railway system.

Have something to report? Tell us in text, photos or videos.

This had been aired by Transport Secretary Mar Roxas, Senator Juan Ponce Enrile and the Airline Operators Council (AOC), which visited Clark airport recently and expressed willingness to transfer to Clark once the support facilities are in place.

Philippine Air Lines (PAL) President and chief operating officer Jaime J. Bautista echoed this view saying that “proper infrastructure” will compel PAL to transfer its hub to Clark airport. PAL is currently utilizing Naia Terminal 2 for its international operations and domestic flights.

“We can move (to Clark airport) if we are asked to do so,” according to Bautista.

Airphil Express, a sister company of PAL, recently inked a Memorandum of Agreement with the Clark International Airport Corporation for the launching of international and domestic flights out of the Clark airport.

Lucio Tan is already in Clark with the entry of Airphil Express, which is set to launch international flights this year from the Clark airport.

Naia is highly saturated and when the airport authorities decide to start rehabilitation of Naia’s runway 0624 for five hours daily early next year, PAL flights and that of other international carriers will have to be diverted to Clark airport so that the aircraft will avoid circling the skies above Manila, wasting precious aviation fuel. The logical recourse is to fly directly to Clark.

CIAC President Victor Jose I. Luciano said Clark airport is ready to accept flights from Naia once the rehabilitation of Naia’s runway starts.

“We can handle eight narrow-bodied and five wide-bodied aircraft once tapped by aviation authorities for a five-hour lull at Naia,” says Luciano.

Rehabilitation works at Naia would start from 12 midnight to 5 a.m.

Luciano said Clark airport is operating 24 hours and seven days a week and is equipped with navigational aid, meteorological equipment, airfield ground lightning system and fire and rescue facilities and terminal radar approach control.

Bautista noted that Naia Terminal 2 “is already too small” for PAL’s operations because the terminal was only designed for domestic operations. The presence of international flights is causing the movement of heavy cargo in the freight area, making both international and domestic flight operations difficult at times.

The PAL executive said the move to Clark airport “is inevitable” although that transfer will not happen overnight. First things first. Accelerate investment in infrastructure in and out of the Clark airport and operate a twin airport system. Once the facilities are in place in Clark, the gradual phase-out of Naia can be done with all international carriers and local carriers like PAL moving to Clark.

The people of Pampanga expressed confidence on the leadership of Luciano to transform the Clark airport into one of the busiest airports in the country now. And then came the announcement that Clark airport will be the next international gateway. Everything is falling into the right places.

Any negative criticism at this point in time will be out of place, but as they say, even the dull and the ignorant critics have something to say. Let’s hear them and shut them from our systems forever. The criticisms against Luciano are falling on deaf ears because they believe that these individuals who are sowing discontent and baseless allegations do not support development and have become anti-people themselves.

And what about the lightning rally held at the CIAC grounds? Well, only some 20 individuals out of the 380 CIAC employees participated. It only means one thing: the union does not have the support of the greater majority. The CIAC workers do not want the development at the Clark airport to be derailed.