NAIA runway mishap signals need to develop other airports — senators

MANILA, Philippines — The recent runway mishap at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport shows the need to decongest the country’s main gateway and develop other air transport hubs.

Lawmakers stressed this point days after a Xiamen Airlines aircraft skidded off NAIA’s main runway late Thursday. The incident led to flight cancellations and delays, which affected thousands of passengers.

In a statement, Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III stressed the demand to have at least two main air hubs, similar to the Haneda and Narita airports in Japan.

“We require two airports as our main international gateways. NAIA can serve South Metro Manila and Southern Luzon to Bicol, and Clark can address the needs of passengers from North Metro Manila and Northern Philippines,” Pimentel said.

He noted that both hubs might share handling of travel and logistics flow to the Visayas and Mindanao.

Pimentel said the “underutilized” Clark airport could service flight transfers of international passengers.

“If you’re going to the province anyway via a connecting flight and you don’t need to stay in Manila, Clark International could be a better transfer point. Proposals such as these can work and should be tried,” he said.

The senator, moreover, said that the development of Clark airport should be a central component of the Duterte administration’s Build, Build, Build program.

“An integrated transport system is needed to fully realize Clark’s potential. We require a convenient, high speed rail network from Pampanga to Manila, as well as more flyovers and wider NLEX lanes,” Pimentel said.

READ: Xiamen Airlines says sorry over NAIA runway mishap

Revival of Subic airport

Sen. Richard Gordon, for his part, said the latest incident at NAIA stressed the need to hasten the reopening of the Subic Bay International Airport.

Not only passengers but also airlines and companies doing trade and commerce were affected by the closure of NAIA’s main runway, he noted.

“As it was, passengers of canceled flights were still stranded at the NAIA up to Sunday and awaiting announcements on their flights. If the SBIA was already opened, flights could have been diverted to the two airports—SBIA and CIA,” the former chair and administrator of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority said.

Last July, Transport secretary Arthur Tugade floated again the plan to restore the Subic airport.

“I think the airport will be operational in due time. Perhaps, it will be operational before the first… second quarter next year,” he said.

READ: Tugade: Subic airport may be operational again by Q2 2019