Airlines wooed to use Clark airport

The state-run operator of Clark International Airport in Pampanga said it was in talks with carriers Air Asia and Emirates to revive operations that were suspended in 2013 partly due to weak volume.

Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) made the announcement as it launched a pitch for travellers in “north Philippines” to use Clark Airport, saying it has “no traffic congestion and flight delays.”

CIAC said the low-cost airlines and full service carriers that serve Clark “are arriving on time with their scheduled flights.”

“This is one of the many factors why Clark Airport has an advantage to other airports in the country today,” CIAC president and CEO Emigdio Tanjuatco III said.

Tanjuatco acknowledged that improvements were still needed at Clark Airport. In line with this, he added that they were inviting more airlines to use the airport by adding more international and domestic flights to mainly serve passengers coming from the Northern Luzon area.

“We are currently in talks with other air carriers with the possibility of adding more flights at Clark Airport, as we have a passenger terminal that can accommodate as much as five million passengers annually,” Tanjuatco said.

He said CIAC was in talks with Philippines Air Asia and Emirates Airlines to encourage them to return to Clark Airport.

CIAC earlier forged a deal with Robinsons Starmalls in the City of San Fernando on the establishment of a passengers lounge that would take passengers directly to Clark Airport and back. Similar lounges were also established at Ayala-owned Trinoma Mall in Quezon City and at the SM City Clark.

Clark Airport has a 3.2-kilometer parallel runways that can accommodate large aircraft such as Airbus A-380 commercial planes that are allowed to land at the 2,367-hectare Clark Civil Aviation Complex.

Clark Airport already hosts airlines such as Qatar Airways, Asiana Airlines, Dragonair, Air Asia Berhad, Cebu Pacific Air, Tiger Air, Jin Air and Seair.