Clark International Airport Corporation (CIAC) President and CEO Atty. Emigdio Tanjuatco III said on Thursday the offer of China to construct a railway system from Manila to Clark is “a positive sign for the development of Clark International Airport (CRK).”
Tanjuatco said “It’s a welcome development. Any plan to improve the connectivity between Manila and Clark is always a positive sign for the development of CRK,” in reaction to reports that China had offered to incoming President Rodrigo Duterte to build a railway system from Manila to Clark in just two years.
“CIAC also proposes the construction of a railway to the North and a cargo railway to Subic,” Tanjuatco added in his statement.
Tanjuatco had been proposing a railway system not only between Manila and Clark, but between Clark to the North of the Philippines since CRK’s catchment area is the Northern Luzon.
He said that the North Luzon area has about 22 million in population and that CRK can service the area for their flights and a railway system would be a huge factor to further improve the transportation system in the North Luzon.
He also said that a cargo rail will also spur economic activities between Clark and Subic.
Tanjuatco said that a railway system in the North Luzon will also benefit the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in the Middle East since most of them are residing in the North. The Clark airport caters to Middle Eastern flights such as Qatar Airways’s flight to Doha and Emirates Airlines to Dubai. Both long-haul carriers operate daily flights at CRK.
Clark airport also plays host to other airlines like Cebu Pacific Airways flies domestically at Clark with flight services to Mactan-Cebu International Airport four times a week.
Cebu Pacific also flies to Hong Kong, Macau and Singapore. Other airlines include Asiana Airlines (Incheon, South Korea), Jin Air (Incheon and Busan, South Korea), Cathay Pacific/Dragonair (Hong Kong) and Tiger Air (Singapore).