Gov’t plans P8B budget terminal at Clark freeport

The government is planning to put up an P8-billion budget terminal at the Clark Freeport in Pampanga to take in the traffic that Manila’s congested airport system cannot accommodate.

The new airport is expected to rise by 2014 and will have a capacity of about 10 million passengers.

“We’re looking at a two-airport system with both Manila and Clark being interlinked,” said Victor Luciano, president and chief executive of Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC). “The development of Clark will be more for a niche market without getting any traffic out of Manila.”

Clark is being groomed to replace Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) as the country’s premiere international gateway.

But a more recent review of policies showed that the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) in Clark may operate better as a hub for budget terminals that are driving the growth of air traffic in the region.

“DMIA may be more appropriate as a budget hub. This is being initiated by the Department of Transportation and Communications (DoTC),” Luciano said. He said a no-frills facility designed for budget carriers might be a better way of attracting investments to the area.

Regional giants such as Malaysia’s AirAsia and Singapore’s Tiger Airways, together with partner Southeast Asian Airlines (SEAir), currently operate out of Clark.

Clark, a former US military base, has been seen as an ideal replacement to NAIA due to its close proximity to the northern part of Metro Manila. The DMIA has been seen as a more accessible terminal for people in Quezon City and nearby cities.

Clark also has more than 2,000 hectares of available space where its airport can expand. In contrast, NAIA is located in the middle of residential communities. The 600 hectares of available space in Manila has also been used up.

About 90 percent of all air traffic in the Philippines, or about 25 million passengers a year, originated from Manila. Because of this heavy volume, NAIA has experienced several flight delays almost daily due to runway traffic.

Luciano said the state-owned CIAC has been coordinating with the DoTC to have the contract for the new terminal’s construction bid out under the administration’s public private partnership (PPP) framework.

The PPP scheme aims to transfer the heavy capital burden of infrastructure development to the private sector from the government. In exchange for funding and building a project, private investors are allowed to charge fees from users of the facility.

Luciano said the contract would likely be bid out by the early part of 2012.

The group of business executive Manuel V. Pangilinan has expressed interest in the DMIA project. The company said it would submit a proposal to build a full-service terminal, instead of a budget facility, in Clark to complement Manila’s airport. The proposed full-service terminal will be linked to Manila by a high-speed railway system.