PAL eyes Clark airport as major hub

Philippine Airlines (PAL) eyes Clark International Airport (CRK) in Pampanga as another major hub in the next couple of yeasts, Clark International Airport Corporation (CIAC) yesterday announced.

PAL President and Chief Operating Officer Jaime Bautista made the commitment to CIAC President and CEO Alexander Cauguiran during last week’s meeting.

“PAL already has strong operations in Clark since December, 2016,” Cauguiran noted.

“By choosing CRK as another bigger hub, we expect PAL will increase commercial flights, especially domestic routes, in the next couple of years,” he added.

Already, PAL committed to build its own passenger terminal building and a Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility inside the Clark Civil Aviation Complex.

“PAL’s expansion (in Clark) allows passengers to experience our unique brand of service and ensures convenience and connectivity,” PAL senior vice president for airline operations Ismael Augusto Gozon confirmed during the flag carrier’s inaugural flight to Busuanga last Sunday.

The CIAC management team will soon start negotiations with PAL regarding their future plans for Clark airport.

Meanwhile, the flag carrier expects the delivery of more new planes starting this year.

A couple of new Boeing 777–300ERs will arrive in December, 2017; a Q400 Next Generation turbo props for domestic flights, July 2017, plus the first of six brand-new A350-900s, in 2018.

“Hopefully within the year, PAL will fly directly from Clark to the West Coast of the United States, initially in Los Angeles, a destination which will definitely create a positive impact in our efforts to improve CRK’s passenger volume,” according to Cauguiran.

Clark airport hosts PAL’s Cebu, Caticlan, Davao, Busuanga (Coron) routes and international flights via Incheon in South Korea, along with the CRK-Puerto Princesa thrice a week flights which begins today, March 28.