Traffic also in Philippine skies

Imagine if the Philippine government, through the Department of Transportation (DOTr) had the appropriate aircraft recovery equipment and solutions in place in case a jet was disabled while attempting to land, or any emergency situation for that matter.

The need for adequate aircraft recovery equipment and solutions to be present at any Philippine airport is real. Recall the August 17, 2018 airport shutdown and the total chaos while the government was perceived helpless or in panic mode.

And that runway incident at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) was not the first one in the Philippines this year. There have been similar incidents in Davao, Busuanga, Dumaguete and Iloilo.

Now is the time for government to seriously scout for companies that can best offer aircraft recovery equipment and solutions in any emergency situation.

This man-made disaster must and should never happen again. Never.

Look at the initial tally of losses and damage: P33 million for expenses that piled up during the runway closure at the NAIA. The figure also includes the rental of externally sourced cranes and other big equipment that were used to lift and move the damaged aircraft out of the runway, the opportunities lost from the shutdown, and overtime labor cost of airport personnel.

What is beyond quantification is the damage anew done to the image of the Philippines before the eyes of the international tourism sector, the primary market of our travel and related industries. This is not to mention the inconvenience and stress experienced by thousands of stranded passengers.

Note that on the day Xiamen Airways skidded off the NAIA runway, the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) have had to cancel immediately 36 local and international flights coming in and going out of the airport. On Aug. 19 alone, additional 51 domestic and international flights using Terminals 1, 2 and 3 had to be cancelled due to what airport authorities called “excessive delays” caused by the incident.

After the runway closure, it was estimated that around 600 flights and some 150,000 passengers had been affected by the incident. Now more than ever, the government must prevent, if not manage, risks from an aircraft recovery problem at all cost.

Air traffic has increased significantly and aircraft have become much larger and heavier. The government has to assume the burden of responsibility in finding the best possible solution in aircraft recovery preparedness. Similar incidents around the world with airports that were well prepared had much shorter recovery operations.

For example, in Katowice, Poland, a Boeing 737-800 in a similar incident compared to what we saw at NAIA on Aug. 17, was recovered in only 12 hours. 

The government should avail of an appropriate insurance policy that will serve as the airport’s guarantee to efficient operations under any adverse situation. Such an insurance policy must have an aircraft recovery plan in place 24/7 to ensure its immediate availability, notably recovery equipment, availability of trained personnel and experts who will facilitate the timely and safe recovery of a disabled aircraft.

Take for example the Netherlands-based international firm Resqtec. Based on its website, they have developed a system that can deal better and faster with modern aircraft than the old equipment available in the Philippines right now. 

An efficient, functional, modern but safe, and state-of-the-art airport in our country is long overdue. Equally important, however, is the ability of the authorities to respond to emergencies and manage risks. Especially in the case of the Philippines, which is frequently visited by typhoons and other natural calamities, it is very important to keep our airports open during disaster relief and evacuation operations. This we saw during the super typhoon “Yolanda” when the airports of Leyte and Samar were crippled by the onslaught of the storm surge. 

Speaking of natural calamities, residents of Botolan, San Felipe, San Narciso and San Marcelino are thankful to the Divine Providence that “Ompong” spared them from heavy rains late last month.  Otherwise, they could have been buried in flood and lahar. Zambales plays host to almost unimaginable volume of volcanic sand – called lahar – from Mt. Pinatubo’s eruption nearly three decades ago. The volume is enough to supply both domestic and international market and bring due benefits to everyone.

While the Philippines needs all the necessary dollars to further boost the economy, the export of lahar sand is still prohibited allegedly due to high domestic demand. It is high time for the government through Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Roy Cimatu to take a second look at the prohibition as foreign buyers have continuously inquired when the exports would resume.

This is an opportunity for the quarry operators to rid the area of lahar in the three rivers crisscrossing the four Zambales towns and at the same time, share revenues with local and national government units.

Industry sources said every shipload of lahar sand means revenue losses for the local government units of more or less P700,000. This is on top of the charges levied by the Philippine Ports Authority and the four percent excise tax due the Bureau of Internal Revenue.  It may be the better alternative for the DENR to lift the ban at the soonest possible time.

For now, the weather bureau earlier announced the end of the rainy season in our country. But another kind of season is coming in very early.

Christmas season is upon us. Volume of passengers more than double with the traditional homecoming of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and Pinoy balikbayan to spend the Christmas holidays with their families, traffic on air and land would also double.

While we suffer the daily crawl on road travel, the onset of the Christmas season also ushers in heavy traffic in Philippine skies. Thus, we cannot afford to have a repeat of the Xiamen plane incident that showed our airport authorities’ utter unpreparedness.