Wednesday, July 23, 2008
RP opens mothballed airport for domestic flights (3:45 p.m.)
THE first flights are rolling out of an airport terminal in Manila, promising to bring much-needed new capacity to the old, overburdened facilities after a six-year legal delay, officials said Wednesday.
The marble-and-glass Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Terminal 3, which is so far only hosting domestic budget flights, has a capacity of 13 million passengers annually. The airport's three existing terminals struggle to accommodate a combined yearly traffic of 20 million people, officials said.
Domestic low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific became the first airline to start using the terminal Tuesday, with two other budget airlines operated by Philippine Airlines set to begin flying Thursday.
Requirements for international flights have not been completed, and it was not clear if and when international carriers will shift operations from the aging Terminal 1.
Alfonso Cusi, general manager of the Manila International Airport Authority, said the systems handling baggage and security checks were not yet fully operational and that more testing was needed to accommodate international carriers.
"For long flights, we have to be compliant with the requirements of other states," he said. "We don't have a schedule yet for the operation of international carriers because their offices have not yet been built there." (AP) |
