Qatar Airways eager to see Bulacan airport

MANILA, Philippines — Qatar Airways, the world’s best airline for 2019 according to Skytrax, is eager to see the immediate development of an international airport in Bulacan given the worsening congestion at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Manila.

“The issue we have in Manila airport is (it is) highly congested now, sometimes a flight can take a long time due to air traffic control. And there is no space in Manila to improve or increase the runways or the buildings,” Qatar Airways country manager for the Philippines Rohan Seneviratne told The STAR yesterday.

“The best option is to build an airport. I think that is what the government is doing,” he said.

Seneviratne said the proposed new international airport in Bulacan dubbed as the New Manila International Airport Project is an attractive gateway for the airline once it becomes operational.

“It is not that far, as long as you have a very good surface transportation,” he said.

San Miguel Holdings Corp.’s P754 billion airport proposal to finance, design, construct, operate and maintain the New Manila International Airport is currently undergoing the Swiss challenge.

The construction of the airport is expected to alleviate congestion at NAIA.

Qatar Airways was named the world’s best airline by  global air transport rating organization Skytrax.

It also launched its Davao to Doha once a week service, making Davao the third destination in the Philippines on Qatar Airways’ rapidly-expanding global network.

Qatar Airways commenced flight in Manila in 1995 then launched services to Clark in 2013.

In a press conference yesterday, officials expressed their optimism regarding the airline’s newly launched Davao flights.

“Davao is one of the fastest growing cities in the Philippines. There are many SMEs, multinational companies launching or having their offices in Davao. Davao is one of the cities that we would like to explore the options,” Seneviratne said.

“We are looking at OFW, religious travel to Holy land, leisure travel. All of these are very lucrative markets,” he said.

 Seneviratne said the Philippines is increasingly becoming a popular destination to all Arab nations, with visitor count growing year after year.