It was a great year for Clark International Airport and probably a challenging 2018 since the national government is now focus on the development of the airport.
Clark airport posted an unprecedented record of 1.5 million passengers in 2017 that broke the record of 1.3 million in 2012. This is a result of President Rodrigo Duterte’s Dual Airport policy where it focused on the development of Clark airport. I cannot also forget the dedication of Clark International Airport Corporation Chief Alexander Cauguiran who made a big difference for the airport since he assumed office last August 2016. I also give my thanks to Transportation Secretary Art Tugade and Bases Conversion Development Authority President Vince Dizon for their support of finally recognizing Clark airport as the next Premier Gateway of the Philippines.
I doff my hat to them (Cauguiran, Tugade, Dizon)… The people of Pampanga and the rest of Central Luzon will definitely benefit from these developments.
Local and international airlines continue to support and provide more destinations at Clark airport. For example, Philippine Airlines is now the dominant carrier operating at Clark airport. Since December 2016, PAL had already established their strong foothold at Clark airport providing destinations like Caticlan, Cebu, Davao, Batanes, Tagbilaran, Cagayan De Oro, Bacolod, Palawan, Virac, Masbate, and Catarman. PAL has also international flights to Incheon in South Korea. PAL will also launch flights to Iloilo and Naga by January 2018.
I hope Cebu Pacific will follow the footsteps of PAL in providing more destinations at Clark airport. But the carrier now has Caticlan, and Kalibo flights aside from its existing Cebu flights. Hope to see more local destinations as well as international flights this 2018.
Another carrier, Philippines Air Asia is now making a comeback and is readying its program this 2018 for Clark airport. Air Asia had already announced that they will make Clark as their hub of operations. Air Asia has flights to Davao, Palawan, Caticlan and Kalibo. By January 2018, the carrier will have flights to Iloilo, Tacloban and Puerto Princesa.
Jetstar Asia also made their way to Clark airport and is now operating Clark-Singapore flights. The year 2017 also saw other carriers flying out of Clark such as Air Swift which flies to El Nido in Palawan and Alphaland via Clark-Balesin. Platinum Skies Aviation also flies out of Clark via Bagabag in Nueva Vizcaya.
Other carriers operating at Clark airport are Emirates and Qatar Airways which flies to Dubai and Doha in the Middle East. Asiana Airlines flies Incheon and Busan in South Korea. Scoot Airlines (Tiger Air) also flies to Singapore while Cathay Dragon flies via Clark-Hong Kong.
The year 2018 will be another challenging year for Clark airport as more airlines will be launching local and international destinations as it targets 2 million passengers by year end. The BCDA had already laid out its program for Clark that includes the construction of the P12.5 billion New Passenger Terminal to accommodate the expected influx of passengers. The new terminal is expected to be completed by 2022 before President Duterte steps down from office.
I am hoping to see more developments at Clark Airport this year.