By Lawrence Agcaoili (The Philippine
Star) | Updated June 6, 2014 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines - A Cabinet member
during the administration of President Fidel V. Ramos is urging the current
administration to adopt a twin or dual airport system to decongest the Ninoy
Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
Former Finance Secretary Roberto de
Ocampo said the Aquino administration should pattern the joint development of
NAIA and the Clark International Airport in Pampanga after the Ronald Reagan
Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia and Washington Dulles
International Airport in Dulles, Virginia supervised by the Metropolitan
Washington Airports Authority.
He pointed out that the government
should develop the Clark International Airport as NAIA would not be able to
keep pace with the projected increase in air traffic.
“Developing the airport would help spur the
economic development of the residential areas between Clark and Manila,” he
stressed.
De Ocampo, who is also chairman of
Philippine Veterans Bank, recalled how the present dilemma in the aviation
sector was anticipated during his term as secretary of the Department of
Finance.
“20 years ago, then President Fidel Ramos
asked me to coordinate a plan to cope with rapidly growing air traffic in Metro
Manila. After studying the problem, we proposed a two-pronged solution,” he
added.
During that time, de Ocampo pushed for
the extension of NAIA and the development of Clark Air Base.
He explained to President Ramos in
1998 how he witnessed the industrial and residential communities of Arlington
flourish when Reagan and Dulles were being expanded.
“We suggested a modular terminal for Clark.
You just keep building one more wing after another. Nothing new, I’ve seen this
done in Washington DC when I lived there from 1978-1987. I was the one who
introduced the phrase – ‘Let’s do it like Dulles and Reagan’ because we
couldn’t let go of NAIA and we were building Clark one modular terminal at a
time,” he added.
De Ocampo remains hopeful that the
original vision of Clark International Airport would be realized into a modern
“aerotropolis” in Northen Luzon.
An aerotropolis is a new urban form of
placing airports in the center with cities growing around them, connecting
workers, suppliers, executives, and goods to the global marketplace.
“When I was studying the basics of urban
planning, it included the idea of building magnets outside of the central
metropolis in order to spread the urban community rationally outwards. For me,
the magnet that we are looking at here is the Clark International Airport. And
the other magnet which is not too far from here is Subic,” he said.
He also highlighted the importance of
Subic as it is bigger than Singapore as the former US military base is a major
port facility that could be used for dry docking servicing.
“This airport facility is second to
none and with the two combined, it gives you a fantastic export processing zone
that could put us on the map,” he said.
He proposed modular terminals to allow
the airport to continuously expand as traffic builds up.
A study by the Japan International
Cooperation Agency (JICA) showed that the number of passengers in Greater
Capital Region would hit 106.7 million by 2040 from 31.88 million in 2012.
It expects passengers from the
National Capital Region as well as Central Luzon and CALABARZON would rise
steadily to 49.8 million in 2020, 75 million in 2030, and 106.7 million in
2040.
To meet these expected volumes, the
government has identified two viable options that involve the expansion of
Clark International Airport as well as
the development of a new international airport roughly within 20 to 30 minutes
of Metro Manila.
One option entails the closure and
sale of NAIA by 2030 wherein the new international airport to be operational by
2027 would provide 78 percent of the required passenger terminal building while
the international gateway in Clark, Pampanga would handle 22 percent.
The other option, allows NAIA to
co-exist alongside CIA and the new airport up to 2040 and beyond.
Once the gateway airport roadmap to
2040 is identified, the DOTC would finalize its plans to execute the policy.
The DOTC wants to put into operation a new international airport by 2027 with
the joint development of the congested NAIA in Manila and the Clark
International Airport in Pampanga.
Diversified San Miguel Corp. (SMC) has
presented to President Aquino a $10-billion international airport to be
situated in a 1,600-hectare property owned by CyberBay Corp. at the boundaries
of Las Piñas and Parañaque along the Manila-Cavite expressway (Cavitex).
Meanwhile, Valenzuela City Rep.
Sherwin Gatchalian urged Malacañang yesterday to approve the proposal of the
Civil Aviation Authority (CAAP) to construct a parallel runway at the Ninoy
Aquino International Airport (NAIA) citing the project’s economic and safety
gains for the country.
He said congestion at the NAIA costs
carriers more than P7 billion annually in terms of fuel and engine costs, and
aircraft time yearly that is much higher than the P2-billion price tag of a new
runway.
The parallel runway will expand NAIA’s
capacity from 40 to around 60 aircraft movements per hour, the lawmaker said,
citing news reports.
“The government should build the
runway as soon as possible. That’s cheaper than a new airport and faster to
construct,” Gatchalian, who is vice chairman of the House committees on
tourism, and Metro Manila development, said in a statement.
“At the same time, carriers will be
able to save fuel and in turn, lessen costs. I hope the Executive department
will decide in favor of the new project,” he said.
He said air traffic congestion affects
the movement not only of passengers but of goods and services as well.
“Delays because of overcrowding in
runways ruin tourist experience and affect the delivery and arrival of goods,
especially time-sensitive goods such as food products and pharmaceuticals, as
well as services,” he said.
He said an additional runway will help
ensure the safety of passengers because planes won’t be forced to wait long up
in the air to use the overcrowded airport.– With Paolo Romero
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