Cebu Pacific seeks upgrade of airports outside Metro

MANILA, Philippines - Gokongwei-controlled Cebu Pacific (CEB) has sought the upgrading of more airports outside Manila to allow night flights in a bid to decongest the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) runway.

CEB officials said this will allow airlines to spread out their flights throughout the day. Caticlan, for instance, cannot host flights aftersunset. The same goes with Naga, Legazpi, Dumaguete and Butuan, they added.

“This would allow passengers to choose their time of travel and not be limited to day flights,” the officials pointed out.

CEB said it acknowledges the recent delays to its flights mostly caused by air traffic congestion, and pledged continuous support to relevant government authorities to decongest the NAIA runway.

It disclosed that it has actively worked with the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, the Civil Aeronautics Board and the Manila International Airport Authority for the appointment of an independent slot coordinator, who recently approved all airport slots for the March to October summer schedule, and will continue to coordinate airport slots using IATA (International Air Traffic Association) guidelines.

Well-managed airport slotting (the specific time allotted an airline to land and take off) prevents congestion, and maximizes airport use and aircraft movements, it noted.

“The traveling public has been experiencing air traffic congestion in Manila, and both the government and airlines have been taking several proactive steps to minimize this. As the airline industry grows, it is very important to plan ahead to be at par with other international airports,” CEB vice president for marketing and distribution Candice Iyog said.

She added that CEB remains consistent in pushing tourism for the benefit of the Philippine economy. “We have to increase flights in order to meet the government’s tourism targets,” she emphasized.

CEB, which saw its on-time performance drop from an average of 88 percent in 2010 to 77 percent in 2011, also said it supports government plans for the phased transfer of aviation schools and general aviation aircraft (corporate jets and small planes, for instance, carrying one passenger compared to hundreds on a commercial plane) since these use up to 17 percent of NAIA’s capacity annually. Transfer of these operations may be expedited further, it said.

The publicly-listed air carrier also pushed for the hiring of additional airport tower and aerodome personnel to complement night-rated airports, as well as setting up of additional customs, immigration and quarantine services for airports outside Manila.

It said this will allow airlines to base aircraft in, or operate international flights from airports outside Manila, further decongesting the NAIA runway.

CEB also expressed support for a government plan to build additional rapid exit ways to allow landing aircraft to immediately leave the runways. This way, other aircraft can already utilize said runway as soon as possible.

“We hope our passengers understand that we continue working with the government to minimize these delays, and that this is one of Cebu Pacific’s main operational priorities. We remain active in all the capacity enhancements of Philippine airports, since we already have a substantial investment in the country’s aviation growth,” Iyog said.

CEB currently operates 10 Airbus A319, 20 Airbus A320 and eight ATR-72 500 aircraft. Its fleet of 38 aircraft - with an average age of 3.6 years - is one of the most modern aircraft fleets in the world. Between 2012 and 2021, it will take delivery of 22 more Airbus A320 and 30 Airbus A321neo aircraft orders.