BALANGA CITY — “We are expecting that in three years, minimum of three years, we will have a world class airport.”
This is according to Clark International Airport Corporation (CIAC) President and CEO Alexander Cauguiran during his visit Wednesday for the fourth leg of Clark International Airport (CRK) North Philippines Roadshow.
The event highlighted the developments on the airport’s facilities and flight services as well as the current status and performance of CIAC.
Cauguiran said funding has started for the extension of the airport amounting to Php2.8 billion which will increase the airport’s capacity by 8 million passengers.
He further explained that the master plan to expand terminals and runways will play a vital role in decongesting Metro Manila as the volume of vehicles in the metro will plummet should travelers from Northern and Central Luzon use CRK instead of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
“There is only one runway in NAIA and there are four terminals. The design capacity of the four terminals is only 30 million. Last year, they generated 39.6 million, that is an extra 9.6 million which contributed to the massive traffic in the metro,” he added.
Balanga City Mayor Francis Garcia commended the CIAC for its services during one of his travel experience in the airport, narrating his arrival to his destination 30 minutes ahead of time.
“For us, especially if we are going to travel in the different parts of the Philippines and here in Asia, it’s very convenient to travel via Clark airport instead of spending three to four hours of going to NAIA in Manila,” Garcia added.
CRK’s partner airlines also graced the event with their presentation highlighting the ongoing operations and offered services.
A similar activity was already held in the cities of Baguio, Dagupan and Cabanatuan.