P8-B ‘budget’ terminal at Clark Airport pushed

By George Trillo

CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga — Travelers particularly from Luzon expect lesser plane fees after the Clark International Airport Corp. proposed the construction of an P8-billion “budget” airport terminal inside the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport to cater to the growing number of airline companies offering affordable fares.

CIAC President and CEO Victor Jose Luciano said the proposed terminal is expected to accommodate 10 million passengers a year.

The terminal is in addition to another terminal that will cater to passengers of international flights.

“Clark has positioned itself as a hub for low-cost carriers but now attracting legacy carriers. These are now taking a serious look at Clark airport,” said Luciano.

He said that The Clark International Airport Corporation is targeting at least 1.5 million passengers before the end of 2012 due to the additional flights in the international and domestic operations contributed by Air Asia Philippines, Airphil Express, Seair-Tiger and Dragonair.

Luciano added that aircraft movement at the Clark International Airport is at 292 flights per week, both local and international.

Clark Airport also caters Cebu Pacific Air operations through international flights via Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok and Macau.The local carrier also has domestic flights via Clark-Cebu route. Other airlines operating at Clark Airport includes Asiana Airlines and Jin Air via Clark-Incheon in South Korea.

Luciano cited the growth of domestic passenger volume to 73,791 from the period of January to May 15 this year compared with the 16,918 of the same period last year.

“There has been an exponential growth of the number of passengers especially in the domestic front where we obtained a 336 percent increase from January to May alone compared to the previous year,” said Luciano.

This was due to the domestic flights of both AirAsia and Airphil Express that launched the Clark-Kalibo, Davao, Cebu and Puerto Princesa route last March 29.

AirAsia Philippines also started their Clark-Davao and Kalibo flights last March 28 and Puerto Princesa last April 20. International passenger volume increased to 31 percent or 355,034 from January to May this year compared to 270,900 last year.

“The entry of AirAsia, Airphil Express and the expansion of Seair-Tiger has brought tremendous growth to passenger volume in Clark,” said Luciano.