Government takes steps as country's main air transport hub experiences congestion
The government has announced steps to be taken at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport as the country's main air gateway tries to cope with an unprecedented increase in the number of its users
Manila: The government has announced steps to be taken at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) as the country's main air gateway tries to cope with an unprecedented increase in the number of its users.
Secretary Mar Roxas of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) said several measures are being undertaken right to address current runway congestion issues NAIA due to the growing air transport industry in the country.
Figures gathered by the DOTC showed that air fleet population of commercial airlines in the country has doubled to 119 compared with only 62 in 2008. As of 2006, these aircraft also serviced a total of 18 million passengers that went up to 30 million last year. Aircraft movements, or takeoffs and landings at NAIA also went up to 255,000 in 2011 compared with 171,000 in 2006.
NAIA's runways can only accommodate an average of 36 takeoffs and landings) per hour, but actual scheduled commercial and general aviation flights went to as high as 50 events per hour during the daytime this summer season, resulting to a congested runway that caused flight delays and cancellations.
"It is because to the increasing number of users that we are experiencing traffic jams in the airport runways and the consequence of this is that we are experiencing delays in the arrival and departure of flights," Roxas said in Filipino.
Over the last three years, the NAIA and the Manila International Airport Authority had experienced problems as the air gateway tries to cope with the increasing number of airport users as three terminals, NAIA 1,2 and 3, share the same runway.
Due to the heavy aircraft traffic, it is not unusual for landing aircraft, especially those in domestic trips, to queue for several minutes and maintain a holding pattern while waiting for a chance to land.
"No airport wants to be in this kind of situation; this is because of the growing travel industry in the country, especially domestic tourism," Roxas said.
He added that airline industry had bought new aircraft to add to their fleet so that they can take advantage of the anticipated increase in air travel. "This continued on for years until we came to notice that these aircraft fleet purchases are already causing airport congestion," he said.
Roxas said, based on discussion and cooperation with various airline companies, that the DOTC has come up with a number of immediate short-term and long-term measures in increasing the capacity of NAIA's runway and demand management redistribution.
As part of redistributing the demand, the DOTC is transferring commercial flights to and from night-rated airports to airports that have night landing capabilities. Aside from Manila, airports that have night landing capabilities are Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, Cagayan de Oro, Bacolod, Kalibo, Tacloban, Puerto Princesa, Zamboanga, General Santos, and Laoag.
Manila International Airport Authority General Manager Angel Honrado said they are in discussions with the Department of National Defence to transfer all general aviation flights to the Navy's airport in nearby Sangley Point in Cavite City within a month.
