Conglomerate Filinvest Development Corp. and JG Summit Holdings Inc. jointly submitted an unsolicited proposal to develop Clark International Airport, an official of the Transportation Department said Thursday.

“It’s a submission by Filinvest and JG Summit,” Transportation Undersecretary for aviation Roberto Lim said.

Lim said the agency was currently evaluating the P187-billion Clark airport development project submitted by JG-Filinvest Group.

“We hope to complete the assessment also this year. There’s a process. We also have to send it to Neda [National Economic and Development Authority] because Neda is the one that looks at detail and macro,” Lim said.

He said the proposed Clark airport development project would have five phases.

“Initial phase is build new terminal for six million capacity. But it’s early stages,” he said.

Clark hosts airlines such as Emirates Airlines via Dubai, Qatar Airways via Doha, Asiana Airlines via Incheon, Jin Air via Incheon and Busan, Cebu Pacific Air via Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore and domestic flights to Cebu, along with Cathay Dragon via Hong Kong and Tiger Air via Singapore.

Clark International Airport Corp. president and chief executive Alexander Cauguiran earlier said he was in talks with airline carriers to connect Clark to North America.

He said Clark had a huge market potential, with travelers coming from Regions 1 to 3 and the Camanava area (Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, Valenzuela). These areas have a combined population of around 24.2 million.

“Clark ought to be the most logical and practical airport of choice of the people from the northern and central parts of Luzon,” Cauguiran said.

Cauguiran said at least 12 million out of the 36 million passengers using the Ninoy Aquino International Airport were coming from the Northern and Central Luzon regions.

“Ten to twelve million passengers are recorded to be coming from the northern part of the country. Assuming that fifty percent of the figure plies Edsa en route to Naia, you have at least six million vehicles clogging Edsa,” Cauguiran said.

The CIAC chief said the volume of vehicles in Metro Manila would be drastically reduced if travelers from those areas would use Clark airport instead of the over-crowded Naia.

02 March 2017
By Darwin G. Amojelar