PAL pushes for Sangley airport development

MANILA, Philippines — Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) has called on the government to speed up development of an international airport in Sangley Point, one of the new international gateways being eyed by the government to help decongest the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila.

“We have asked the Department of Transportation to fast-track the completion of Sangley airport because with the improvement of the Sangley airport, we can operate our small airplanes, our Q400s, which we now fly out of Clark and Cebu,” PAL president Jaime Bautista said.

“If Sangley airport is developed, we can move some of the flights of the Q400 from Clark to Sangley. This will allow many of the passengers to easily reach Manila. All our Q400s are now operating in Clark and Cebu. So if the Sangley airport is developed, we can fly these airplanes to Sangley,” he said.

The provincial government of Cavite has secured the original proponent status from the DOTr last year for its P552.018-billion unsolicited proposal to operate, maintain and expand an international airport in Sangley Point.

The offer was chosen over a private group’s unsolicited offer, which remains an alternative to date, according to DOTr officials.

The Tieng-led All Asia Resources and Reclamation Corp. submitted a $12-billion unsolicited proposal in March last year to finance, construct and develop a new airport to be called Philippine Sangley International Airport in Sangley, Cavite.

Aside from the Sangley airport, the DOTr is also pushing for the development of a new international airport in Bulacan, as proposed by San Miguel Holdings Corp.

“As an airline operator, we would like to have more destinations where we can operate. NAIA is already congested. We are expanding our operations in Clark, but we welcome new airports,” Bautista said.

“We think these will really support the requirements of the airline industry as far as airport development is concerned. We want the government to really support all these airport development projects,” he said.

PAL is “cautiously watchful and hopeful” about returning to profitability this year, Bautista said.

The airline is targeting to carry 19 million passengers this year from 17 million passengers last year.

“The decline in prices started in November, so we will benefit almost for the months of December. So for full of fourth quarter it’s only December that we will benefit from the better fuel price,” Bautista said.