Road project to settle Naia-Clark debate

Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal. INQUIRER PHOTO/ROD

The government will have an easier time deciding whether to retain the Ninoy Aquino International Airport as the country’s main international gateway or to transfer this designation to the Clark International Airport once a road or railway line connecting the two airports is in place.

According to Bases Conversion and Development Authority Chair Felicito Payumo, Manila North Tollways Corp.’s unsolicited offer to build an elevated highway connecting the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) with the South Luzon Expressway (SLEx) was a potential “game changer.”

He said having that connector road in place could cut travel time from Naia to Clark to just 70 minutes from the usual three hours.

If this project could be awarded before the year ends, he said the NLEx-SLEx connector road could be operational before the end of President Benigno Aquino III’s term.

A railway line connecting Naia to Clark, similar to the express train between Japan’s Narita and Haneda airports, was also a viable option, he said.

Japan initially had an elevated expressway connecting its two airports. It took 10 years for the connector express train, which made travel between the two gateways even faster, to be completed.

Should the government decide to make Clark the country’s main gateway, Payumo said the right infrastructure—either a high-speed railway cutting travel time to under 45 minutes or a road between NLEx and SLEx or NLEx and the Skyway—connecting the airport to Manila should be put in place.

Support facilities should likewise be built around Clark, he said, to enable the airport to serve the requirements of both legacy and budget carriers.