THE CLARK International Airport tallied more than 1.5 million passengers from January 1 to August 8, marking the highest number in passenger traffic in just the third quarter of the year, according to an executive of the Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC).
“We have a total of 1,538,958 travelers at Clark as of August 8 and at this rate, we will be able to reach the 2.5 million mark by the end of the year,” Alexander Cauguiran, CIAC president, said.
The 1.53 million mark broke the previous record of 1,514,531 passengers in 2017 with still five months to go in 2018.
“So far, this is the highest record in the history of CIAC since 1995, and our aim is to reach or surpass the 2.5 million passengers this year which will mean more revenues for the government and more flights to come,” Cauguiran added.
The record number of travelers served in just one day was last May 26 at 8,662 passengers.
The average daily passenger volume at the Clark airport is 7,000 and served by a total of 462 weekly flights, 166 of which are international flights while the remaining 296 are domestic flights.
The airport chief said these record-breaking figures are attributed to the Duterte administration’s full support to the further development of Clark airport along with the leadership of Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, whose agency oversees the airport’s operation, and CIAC’s parent company, the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) headed by its president Vince Dizon.
Only two years after being appointed as CIAC head, Cauguiran has steered Clark airport to expand its domestic and international flights, a huge improvement from three to five years ago with more airlines signifying to mount flights under his management.
International destinations from Clark include Doha and Dubai in the Middle East, Incheon and Busan in South Korea, Hong Kong, Macau, Taipei and Singapore while negotiations are ongoing for airlines to mount Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur flights, among others.
The airport is also connected to major domestic destinations including Cebu, Bacolod, Davao and Palawan.