Tulabut: The Better Airport

Friday, November 11, 2011

CLARK is it!

All roads lead to the Freeport, which hosts the country’s next premier international airport.

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Recent news items about NAIA has not only put the congested-and-now-much-maligned Manila airport to shame. It is now also a source of national embarrassment for us Filipinos.

From world’s worst airport, it is also being labeled as “most hated”. What else can we take?

While the government has instituted some changes and improvements at NAIA, those unkind remarks however should now compel policy makers and implementors to push for the total development of DMIA inside Clark.

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The Clark airport, while declared as the future site of the country’s premier airport in as early as April 1994 by then President Ramos, has undergone minor facelifts. It has become more of a Philippine regional airport where its mettle and true worth (in becoming a major gateway) has been proven since the early 2000s.

That was the time when former President Arroyo placed in Clark executives who really knew of their mandate to make the airport operational.

Two of them are former CDC President Manny Angeles who brought in Chichos Luciano to be his deputy.

It was Angeles who thought and implemented the renaming of Clark International Airport to DMIA, in honor of great Kapampangan president Diosdado Macapagal. That move has somehow tied government hands into pushing for the development of the airport. After all, it was named after the late father-president of a seating president. The renaming called for more efforts and resources for DMIA. That was a brilliant move by Angeles.

Some of the remarkable undertakings from that period included the renovation of terminal building and some facilities like the tarmac, procurement of multimillion dollar radar, navigational equipment, CFR (crash, fire rescue) vehicles, the government has relaxed some policies on air transportation to favor Clark – including the adoption of open skies policy.

Luciano, now the president of CIAC, left a good-paying top post in an airline company to help Dr. Angeles. In contrast, he joined a rather thankless job in Clark (as a lot of executives from the private sector would put it). If not only for his dedication to his job and for sharing his belief that Clark would spell the next biggest economic and infrastructure rebound for the Philippines, he would have left CIAC and Clark many years ago.

Angeles picked the right man for the airport job. Luciano brought with him not only his expertise in the aviation industry but also the trust and confidence of his colleagues in the airline business whom he convinced of the potentials of DMIA.

As I have written in the past which I will put down again, he almost singlehandedly caused DMIA to work from a bird-less facility into a fully functional airport that has not only brought in the flights but also livelihood for thousands. For those with short memory, it was the mounting of flights by Asiana Airlines (where Luciano was formerly connected) in 2003 that made other airlines to also come to Clark. Was the rest just history? Nope, they are factual.

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Here’s a long list that followed Asiana’s successful operations in Clark.

The establishment of hub by Cebu Pacific hub at DMIA, the fourth in the county for the Philippines’ second flag carrier.

The signing AirAsia for the establishment of the AirAsia Philippines hub in Clark that will tap into existing prime markets such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

The expansion of operations of South East Asian Airlines (SEAIR) initiated in mid-December 2010 with twice daily Clark-Singapore budget flights kicked-off by no less than President Benigno Aquino III on December 7, 2010.

The signing and start of operations of Korean budget airlines Jin Air that started operations in October 2010.

With all of these airlines coming in to Clark, the Lucio Tan company Airphil Express has also set its sight on DMIA with a contract it signed with CIAC.

And it did not end there.

The 40-airline member strong Airline Operators’ Council (AOC) has also expressed support for the development of the Clark International Airport and are considering transferring the operation of their respective airlines to the Clark airport when the airport facilities and transport systems, particularly a railway system, are in put place.

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What else is tucked under Luciano’s belt?

The creation of not just jobs but high value posts for the highly skilled in CIAC workforce and its locators.

Such is seen in the signing of an MOA with leading worldwide MRO service provider Singapore Airlines Engineering Company (SIAEC) and its expansion where a second and bigger hangar at a cost of close to P1 billion to provide MRO services for Boeing 747s and 777s. Efficient workmanship is also manifested in the March 2010 ISO Certification by TÜV RHEINLAND Philippines Inc. on the passenger facilitation process at the DMIA. Simply put, the ISO means that global standards were found at the aforementioned management system.

There were also more than just certifications. There were these awards on the airport:

In 2007, the Clark International Airport was given the ‘Low Cost Airport of the Year 2006 Award’ by the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (Capa).

In March 2008, the DMIA was given the “Asia Pacific Airport of the Year Award: Best Practices Awards Program” in the below 15M passengers per year category by Frost & Sullivan, a Global Growth Consulting Company.

Anna.aero Magazine, one of the leading airline network news and analysis magazines in the United Kingdom which covers airport developments, adjudged the DMIA as the “Most Promising Upstart Airport”

CIAC was also awarded the 1st Gawad Pampublikong Korporasyon, an award given by the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC) to government corporations for initiatives and projects that bring significant impact on national development and benefits toward the general public. CIAC cited in the 2010 Clark Awards by CDC.

Thousands of seat entitlements have been secured for Clark in recent air talks with various countries which include air talks with Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Macau, the Netherlands, Thailand, Cambodia, Iran and Finland and close to 100 flight frequencies from air talks with Arab countries such as Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.

As replacements and more appointments in government agencies are still a possibility to this day, anyone like Mr. Luciano who serves at the pleasure of an appointing power could be sacked anytime, I believe that this man has done tremendous job not just for Clark but also for the whole country.

Having a new man to oversee CIAC is a grave risk as Clark is already ushering a new era of progress and development with its tested current leaders. As old Spanish saying would put it: Mejor una paloma en el mano que ciento volando (a bird in hand is better than a hundred flying).

Or let’s just go to the vernacular since we Kapampangans should support Clark: “Mas manyaman ne ing ing tuyo kesa keng sula-sulapong pugo” (A fish in hand is better than a flying quail).