EDITORIAL — Diverted

This is the problem when you have such a rinky-dink international airport: a small private jet bearing the President of the Philippines cannot even take off without affecting commercial flights.

Middle Eastern carrier Gulf Air is reportedly preparing to file a complaint against the Air Transportation Office for diverting its incoming flight from the NAIA to Clark International Airport last Wednesday so a private plane bearing President Arroyo could take off. The President flew to Davao for the wedding of the eldest son of House Majority Leader Prospero Nograles. For her departure, the ATO declared a "quasi-emergency procedure" and closed the NAIA runway for both outbound and incoming flights for 10 minutes.

Gulf Air Flight 154 from Dubai, which entered NAIA airspace at 1:41 p.m. for its scheduled 1:55 p.m. touchdown, was diverted to Clark and finally returned to the NAIA at 4:40 p.m. A number of Filipino passengers reportedly complained that the diversion made them miss connecting flights to their home provinces.

The ATO countered that the plane was low on fuel, which made it linger longer at Clark before it could return to the NAIA. For security purposes, declaring a "quasi-emergency" is SOP for all presidential flights, the ATO added.

Whichever was at fault, these problems would not crop up in better airports that can handle a large volume of air traffic. Unfortunately, there is no more room for runway growth at the NAIA, unless local politicians are willing to risk the ire of their voters by dismantling all the slums surrounding the international airport. And the most recent effort to upgrade the capability of the nation’s premier airport is literally deteriorating. There seems to be no settlement in sight for the groups locked in legal dispute over the NAIA Terminal 3, whose ceilings are collapsing and whose facilities are rotting away from disuse.

Meanwhile, our neighbors such as Thailand are opening huge, world-class airports and expanding old ones. Will we ever manage to catch up? At least the President can arrive on time as a wedding sponsor.