BUSINESS groups in Pampanga province and the Clark Freeport Zone have expressed support to the government’s plan to transfer turboprop flights to Clark International Airport (CRK), now the 3rd busiest airport in the country, and other alternative airports to decongest the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
In a joint resolution signed by the business groups in Pampanga province and Clark, it said the transfer of inter island flights “would create more direct connections to regions 1, 2, 3 and the CARR, making travel more accessible and affordable to about 23 million people from these regions as well as the 7 million people from the northern part of the National Capital Region.”
The resolution noted that “NAIA has recently attained a record high of 50.1 million passengers in 2024, way beyond its current passenger capacity of 35 million passengers per year.”
“Air transport creates employment, facilitates trade, enables tourism and supports sustainable development, thus, playing a vital role in facilitating economic growth, especially for developing countries,” the resolution stated.
It said the congestion at the NAIA was “presenting significant challenges to passenger experience and overall efficiency.”
Passenger traffic at NAIA is expected to register a passenger volume growth of about 20% to 30% this year equivalent to its planned capacity of 60 million passengers per year that is scheduled to be achieved after another 4 to 5 years.
The resolution said that “one of the measures that can be taken to increase passenger capacity significantly and expediently at NAIA is to transfer all turbo-prop flights to secondary airports as this jet planes have four times more air seats per craft than turbo-prop planes and can increase hourly aircraft movements from the present 30-40 to about 488.”
The Manila Slot Coordination Committee (MSCC), comprising of the Department of Transport (DoTr), the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), the Civil Aviation Board (CAB) and the New NAIA Infra Corp (NNIC), had already announced the plan to transfer all turbo-prop flights of NAIA to alternative airports9 in recognition of the issues discussed above.
It further said the transfer of turboprop flights to alternative airports will decongest NAIA “but also allow it to meet projected growth in passenger traffic in a more expedient manner thereby mitigating challenges such as frequent delays, crowded terminals, and compromised service quality.”
“It would free up valuable runway slots that would allow NAIA to accommodate more larger, long-haul aircraft that require shorter distances between planes in the same route, reducing runway congestion and minimizing delays.”
“Redistributing turboprop flights to alternative airports such as the Clark International Airport (CRK) or the Sangley Point Airport (SGL) with underutilized capacities will improve the overall absorptive capacity of the country for international as well as domestic flights and catalyze economic growth in their respective sphere of operations.
The resolution was signed by Dr. Francisco Villanueva, Jr. CILA President; Ms. Denise Molintas, AmCham President; Mr. Bejamin Antonio III, SBFCC President; Atty. Paulino Yusi PAMCHAM President; Mr. Germaine Marko G. Pascual, PCCI Tarlac – Executive Director; Mr. Thomas Markus Brill, FABILA President; Ms. Elizabeth Timbol, MACCII President; Ms. Grace Tyler, PhD. MCICTC Chairperson; and Ms. Donna P. Ravina HARP President.