Clark airport expansion plan under review

The planned expansion of the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) may have to be re-evaluated as the Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) has to recompute and review its planned development of the Pampanga airport facility.

In an interview with The STAR, CIAC president and chief executive officer Victor Luciano said the DMIA is “being overtaken by events and may have to put up a tent to accommodate the increasing number of passengers using the terminal.”

The completion of a second terminal, Luciano said, is now being targeted for June 2010.

The planned expansion of the DMIA last year and the construction of a second terminal  had been scrapped following a failed bidding.

The cost of the expansion then, stood at $142 million or around P7 billion.

Based on current realities, Luciano said the cost for the expansion would have to be recomputed and a review of the planned expansion has to be done before another bidding is conducted.

Specifically, plans for the expansion are now leaning towards a modular expansion based on the gradual increase in passenger traffic instead of building a big facility from the start.

A modular expansion approach, would allow for a phased expansion, adding to the terminal facility only as passenger traffic increases.

A modular expansion approach would, thus, require a different funding strategy, Luciano said, but stressed that “we are faced with a good problem.”

The success of eight bilateral air negotiations, has increased the number of airlines scheduled to start operating both domestic and international flights from the DMIA,” he said.

Passenger arrivals at the DMIA as of Septermber this year, has reached 700,000. By next year, the figure is projected to hit 1.5 million.