Flight delays at Clark blamed on CAB policy

CLARK FIELD, Pampanga — Hundreds of passengers, mostly overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), who were supposed to fly via Tiger Airways, have been stranded on three occasions at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) here due to the failure of the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) to promptly renew the carrier’s flight permits.

Alex Cauguiran, convenor of the umbrella group Move Clark Now Movement, decried CAB’s policy to require Tiger Airways and five other foreign airlines to renew their permits to fly on a monthly basis.

The six airlines, which include AirAsia, SEAIR, Asian Spirit, Asiana, and Chinarich Airways, have 39 flights from the DMIA daily.

According to Cauguiran, some 300 passengers, mostly OFWs, were stranded at the airport last Jan. 5 after the CAB held the Tiger Airways flight to Macau, prompting the carrier to book them at the Mimosa and Fontana resorts here.

Cauguiran said the CAB stopped the Tiger Airways flight because the carrier failed to obtain a permit to fly for the month of January.

Officials of the Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) immediately sought the help of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), which issued a temporary permit good up to Jan. 8 the following day. s

CIAC officials quoted CAB authorities as saying that a permit could be issued to Tiger Airways only on a monthly basis since it is covered by the government’s liberalized skies policy.

Tiger Airways was forced to cancel its Jan. 10 and 11 flights to Macau because its DOTC-issued temporary permit expired on Jan. 8 and the CAB had failed to promptly act on its January permit.

The two cancelled flights affected at least 400 passengers, again mostly OFWs, Cauguiran said.

It was only yesterday that CAB officials granted a permit to Tiger Airways, but only a temporary one good for 10 days.

Officials of CIAC and the Clark Development Corp. (CDC) declined to comment on why the CAB has not released Tiger Airways’ January permit for Macau flights even as those of other airlines as well as of Tiger Airways’ Singapore flights were promptly acted upon.

"It seems there are government people who would dare go against the directive of President Arroyo to undertake all measures to fully develop Clark," Cauguiran said.

CDC information director Sonny Lopez said the delays in the Tiger Airways flights have caused "significant damage" to both the airline and its passengers.

Mabalacat Mayor Marino Morales bewailed the flight delays and called on the CAB "improve (its) system (of) processing permits and never allow the cancellation of flights again."