BAGUIO CITY – The administration of the Clark International Airport Corporation (CIAC) believes the optimal operation of the international airport will spur economic growth in Northern Luzon because more foreign visitors will patronize international flights to the country in the future.
Alexander Cauguiran, CIAC president and chief executive officer, said the international airport will be able to accommodate at least 80 million passengers within two decades once it will be able to build more cargo and passenger terminals that will make it as the largest airport outside the National Capital Region (NCR).
“We are following the lead of President Rodrigo Duterte to develop the premier airport of the north. The use of the Clark international airport is part of the government’s efforts to decongest Metro Manila where millions of passengers traverse in going to the already crowded Ninoy Aquino international airport,” Cauguiran stressed.
The CIAC official underscored the only way to decongest Metro Manila is to further develop Clark airport to maximize its potentials in accommodating more passengers annually and to lessen the expenses of people from Northern Luzon due to distance and being caught in the tremendous traffic jams in Manila to and from the NCR-based airports.
Cauguiran called on the travelling public to take a look at the Clark international airport, saying that it will be more convenient and cheaper for everybody to take domestic and international flights at Clark.
According to him, the government already released some P2.8 billion for the construction of the new second passenger terminal that can accommodate at least 8 million passengers annually estimated to be built in the next three years.
Cauguiran claimed they are sustaining the campaign for travelers from its catchment areas in Central and Northern Luzon, especially among overseas Filipino workers and their families, to patronize the Clark International Airport.
Aside from building of the second passenger terminal, Cauguiran disclosed the State-run corporation intends to maximize the use of its 2,300-hectare area for the building of more passenger and cargo terminals and other airport facilities to accommodate the expected influx of some 80 million passengers within the next twenty years or so.
The CIAC executive explained the on-going improvements in its facilities and services and increasing number of flights and carriers are the realities of the Duterte administration’s vision for Clark airport as the next premier gateway to the country.
Clark airport is host to various airlines, such as Qatar Airways that flies to Doha, Emirates Airlines via Dubai, Cathay Dragon via Hong Kong, Asiana Airlines via Incheon in South Korea, Jin Air via Incheon and Busan in South Korea, Philippine Airlines (PAL) via Incheon in South Korea and domestic flights to Caticlan leading to the world famous Boracay Island.
PAL is also set to start domestic flights to Cebu, Davao and Puerto Princesa in the coming months. Cebu Pacific to Hong Kong, Macau, and Singapore with domestic flights to Cebu which had increased frequencies from four to six times weekly.
By HENT