Government moves to decongest NAIA

MANILA, Philippines - The government is moving to decongest Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) by transferring 15 flying schools and allowing 11 provincial airports to operate at night, officials said yesterday.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said the nighttime operations for the provincial airports would avoid congestion in domestic flights to Manila.

“We discovered that all of the domestic airline operators are in a hurry to come back before sunset, where provincial airports stop operating due to the absence of runway lights,” CAAP director general Ramon Gutierrez.

He said this is being remedied by providing runway lights to provincial airports in Puerto Princesa, Cagayan de Oro, Zamboanga, Davao, Kalibo, Laoag, Iloilo, Bacoloc, Tacloban, General Santos and Dumaguete.

He said the move is in accordance with the Aquino administration’s open skies policy of upgrading provincial airports so foreign carriers can land there.

Gutierrez said that they held a dialogue among officials of the CAAP, the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), and domestic carriers Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific, Zest Air and SeaAir to determine the cause of congestion at the NAIA.

He said they found that all domestic carriers bundle their departures early in the morning, at noon, and sometime in the afternoon so all of them would be able to take off before sunset.

Congestion occurs when there are more than 36 departures in one hour at NAIA. Gutierrez said the domestic airlines bundle their flights to maximize operations during the daylight hours.

The MIAA has limited the number of departures to 36 flights per hour. Once the quota is met, air carriers can choose other “slots” or schedules so that departures are spread out evenly. Pilots need no longer worry about taking off after sunset, since the 11 provincial airports would have runway lighting.

“Slotting is being resorted to while the performance-based navigation (PBN), which is a component of the Communication, Navigation System/Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) is in the process of getting installed, ” Gutierrez said. The PBN uses satellite navigation instead of post-World War II ground-based equipment currently in use at NAIA.

The CNS/ATM will be housed in a new building that is under construction within the CAAP compound. “The CNS/ATM is the next generation of air traffic management and communications systems, which is being constructed under the Department of Transportation and Communications,” Gutierrez said, adding that the project is scheduled for completion in 2013. 

Gutierrez said that by then, air traffic management in the country will rely solely on satellites.

Flying schools give way to Skyway

The MIAA, on the other hand, said 15 flying schools agreed to transfer to provincial airports to give way to a Skyway connection to NAIA Terminal 3 (NAIA-3) to rid the area of traffic jams.

The elevated road will start from Fort Bonifacio, connect with the Skyway near the Resorts World Hotel, go all the way to the Manila Domestic Airport, follow the length of the Domestic Road towards Tambo before turning right at the “Park and Fly” gasoline station to exit at Roxas Boulevard.

The connection is being built to coincide with the full operation of the NAIA-3 at the end of the year or early next year, MIAA general manager Jose Honrado said.

He said there was a dialogue among representatives of the MIAA, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association-Philippines, flying school owners and the CAAP to decide the fate of the flying schools.

The flying schools are members of the so-called general aviation (GenAv) sector of the aviation industry, whose officials had agreed to be relocated, provided that they are allowed to use any of the dozens of runways and airstrips operated by the CAAP.

“The flying schools can use any of our airports that are nearest to their area of operation,” Gutierrez said, adding that he also agreed to the flying schools using the Civil Aviation Training Center, a government-funded institution that offers a complete aviation curriculum.

There are currently 56 flying schools certified with the CAAP, but the bigger ones have already opted to operate far from the NAIA. The nearest airstrip is in Plaridel, Bulacan, but this airport is already congested, Gutierrez said.

The next nearest airport is Clark in Pampanga, where two flying schools are based.

“The whole GenAv sector has agreed to transfer to another location within two to three years,” Gutierrez said. However, it was not yet clear where the GenAv would be relocated although the DOTC and the Department of National Defense are being consulted on the matter, Honrado said.