CIAC upgrades airport facilities

MANILA, Philippines - Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) continues to beef up the facilities and equipment at the international gateway in Pampanga as it expects the volume of passengers in the former US military airbase to grow by 150 percent over a period of two years.

 CIAC president and CEO Emigdio Tanjuatco III said the agency spent P207 million to acquire new boarding bridge, as well and state-of-the-art fire trucks for the international airport.

Tanjuatco said CIAC acquired a two-finger Passenger Boarding Bridge worth P92 million and two Rosenbauer fire trucks worth P115 million.

He pointed out that the newly installed passenger boarding bridge would provide more convenience to passengers at the airport.

On the other hand, the fire trucks feature 6x6 3000 gallons Major Tender (MT) with a high reach extendable turret (HRET), and a 6x6 2250 gallons major tender (MT).

The state-of-the-art fire trucks raises the rating of Clark International Airport to Category 10 from Category 9 This is the highest rating set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as the airport would now be able to handle emergency disasters involving wider aircrafts such as the Boeing 777 and Airbus A380.

“These vehicles would be used for emergency disasters at Clark Airport and we are now capable of handling such disasters involving wider aircrafts which are currently being used by air carriers,” he added.

SM also opened the SM Travelers Lounge located at the Bayanihan Terminal near SM City Clark to provide seamless transportation service to passengers in the area.

The lounge is open daily from 4 am to 11 pm. Philtranco Bus Lines would ferry passengers bound for SM Pampanga, SM North EDSA, SM Mega Mall, and SM Mall of Asia.

The volume of passengers using the Clark international airport in Pampanga is expected to grow 150 percent to three million over the next two years from the current level of about 1.2 million passengers per year.

The P417 million improvement project of the existing passenger terminal building at the Clark International Airport was completed in May last year raising the annual passenger capacity to four million from 2.5 million.

The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) is pursuing the construction of a P7.2 billion low cost carrier passenger terminal building to raise the capacity of the airport to 80 million per year.

The DOTC earlier reached a compromise with the Aeroports de Paris (ADP) of France on the proposed passenger terminal building at the international gateway in Pampanga.

Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya said the agency has decided to implement the project in phases after the master plan and feasibility study for the proposed terminal outlined a very huge capacity. 

The transport chief also clarified that while the proposed Sangley International Airport is still under study, government is focused on the aggressive development of both the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and Clark.