PAL backs NAIA terminal reshuffle

MANILA, Philippines — Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL), which was affected by terminal reassignment at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), has rallied behind the proposal to undertake another round of airline reshuffling at the gateway.

PAL executive vice president and general counsel Carlos Luis Fernandez told The STAR that the carrier backs New NAIA Infrastructure Corp.’s (NNIC)’s plan to rejig airline locations.

NNIC, led by San Miguel Corp. (SMC), plans to reorganize the terminal assignment of airlines for runway efficiency.

SMC president and CEO Ramon Ang said the concessionaire wants to minimize instances when a terminal is loaded with several wide-bodies all at once. He pointed out that these aircraft tend to require larger space for boarding, taxiing and takeoff.

“We have relayed to San Miguel that we will be supportive of them. It is important for us to have an efficient airport, so whatever we can do to contribute to that, we will do that,” Fernandez said.

PAL supports the proposed relocation of terminal assignments even though it had just adjusted to a similar program a year ago, under the Schedule and Terminal Assignments Rationalization.

That program forced PAL to spread out its flight network, from being the sole airline in Terminal 2, to moving its international flights to Terminal 1.

Fernandez said all PAL wants is efficiency, and if another round of terminal reassignment would achieve that, the airline is ready to comply with it.

Ang pointed out that the planned relocation of airline hubs would mean faster boarding and less delays for passengers. The target is to get the reform implemented before Nov. 1, ahead of the travel spike during the Undas season.

On operations, PAL is poised to grow its passenger count by 10 to 20 percent as planned. PAL president and chief operating officer Stanley Ng said the airline is seeing a healthy amount of flight bookings in the second semester, particularly for December.

The airline, owned by tycoon Lucio Tan, is also mounting in October direct flights from Manila to Seattle, placing it ahead of competitors in the tug of war for US connections from the Philippines.

As of June, PAL has flown about eight million passengers, up by 12 percent from seven million a year ago, leaning on the steady demand for air travel as the world moves on from the pandemic.