Airport authority eyes Clark-US link

The operator of Clark International Airport in Pampanga is inviting carriers to launch operations to North America following a string of successful efforts to bring in Philippine Airlines (PAL) and AirAsia to the former American military base.

Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) president and CEO Alexander Cauguiran said there were ongoing discussions with various airlines for them to link Clark and North America. He declined to name the air carriers as negotiations were still ongoing.

Clark Airport, which remains underutilized, ended 2016 with successful talks with PAL. The country’s flag carrier launched debut flights linking Clark and Caticlan Airport last December. PAL followed it up with flights to various other local destinations and an international route to Incheon, South Korea.

AirAsia last week said it would restart operations in Clark this March after exiting the Pampanga hub in 2013.

CIAC said there was “huge market potential” for Clark Airport. It cited travellers coming from regions one to three and the Camanava area (Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, Valenzuela) with a combined population of around 24.2 million.

“Clark ought to be the most logical and practical airport of choice of the people from the northern and central parts of Luzon,” Cauguiran said.

Cauguiran recently unveiled an update to the CIAC’s Master Development Plan, which includes the building of a new Passenger Terminal with an eight million-passenger

capacity.

“(Transportation Secretary Arthur) Tugade’s plan is to build another terminal by 2019 or before President Duterte’s term ends,” Cauguiran said.

In its report, CIAC said it would maximize in the next two to three years the existing terminal with a capacity of 4.2 million passengers annually.

“Plans of maximizing (Clark airport) are aligned with Secretary Tugade’s efforts to ease the congestion at the Naia (Ninoy Aquino International Airport) and Metro Manila,” he added.