THE Clark International Airport Corporation (CIAC) said passenger traffic volume increased by 63 percent to more than 2.0 million from January to June this year.
In a press statement, CIAC revealed that there were 2,104,226 passengers for international and domestic flights for the said period.
“CIAC is able to sustain the surge in passenger numbers largely because of the marketability of Clark airport and the civil aviation complex and because President Duterte willed it, the national government pushed for it and (Transportation) Secretary Art Tugade guided us through,” CIAC president Jaime Melo said.
The figure is, so far, the highest mid-year number of travelers in the airport’s 24-year history.
The highest count in one month was recorded last May at 395,847 passengers.
In the first six months, Clark recorded 913,724 international travelers and 1,190,502 domestic passengers.
For its excellent flight punctuality performance and competency in providing exceptional air services, Clark airport looks forward to receive another impressive two-star award from the Official Aviation Guide (OAG), an air travel intelligence company based in United Kingdom, after garnering 75.3 percent On-Time Performance (OTP) rating from June 2018 to May 2019.
Clark airport was awarded a two-star OTP rating in 2018 owing to the full cooperation of all airlines servicing Clark, Melo said.
The existing passenger terminal has a capacity of 4.2 million passengers with a monthly average of 345,000 travelers.
CIAC targets to breach the four-million passenger mark by the year’s end.
Some 11,500 passengers fly via Clark daily and are served by a total of 673 weekly flights, with 202 international and 471 domestic flights.