BCDA sees need for 2 airports

MANILA, Philippines - The state-run Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) wants to put an end to the debate on whether the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) or Clark International Airport should be the Philippines’ primary international gateway.

BCDA president and CEO Arnel Paciano Casanova said efforts should instead be  focused on building more international airports as possible.

Casanova said the airports in Manila and Clark are both needed to boost local tourism and none of the two should be compromised.

“We believe that with or without a gateway, we actually need two airports. This is not a cause for debate. The mentality should be let’s do it already because our neighbors have built all these airports around their cities. We must build our own as soon as possible,” Casanova said.

With the Philippines’ 7,100 islands, the country boasts of a lot of beautiful places that tourists could visit, Casanova said.

He said the problem is that the country lacks the necessary airports to accommodate direct entry of tourists into these locations.

“Bali alone is a small island but it has five million tourists coming in. That alone is equivalent to the country’s total tourist arrivals because we are not accessible to tourists all over the world. We need to have two airports like in China, Korea, Japan, and Kuala Lumpur,” Casanova said.

“So the debate between Manila or Clark, it should be Manila and Clark or even Cebu or Davao because we should have this kind of accessibility,” he added.

The BCDA is in full support of the immediate development of the Clark International Airport in Pampanga.

Upon completion, the P15-billion expansion of the airport is seen to help decongest NAIA. The bidding of the project is expected to take place in the first quarter of 2016.

“What we need to do is to build it. Let’s set a timeline and let’s have a definite plan and we will support the plan,” Casanova said.