Gordon bats for reopening of Subic Bay Int’l Airport

Senator Richard Gordon renewed yesterday his call for the reopening of the Subic Bay International Airport which he believes can address the long-standing problem of runway congestion experienced at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Manila.

Gordon underscored the urgent need to address the issue, as it is one of the major factors that hamper the country’s economy from thriving.

“I have long been calling past administrations to resolve this problem because it affects our economy,” Gordon said in a statement.

“A good international airport as the country’s gateway is essential to economic growth,” he stressed.

“Delayed flights discourage investors from bringing in their businesses here and it also turns tourists off,” he pointed out.

The former Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) chairman and former Department of Tourism (DOT) secretary said tourism is the biggest casualty of the congestion at NAIA as most tourists use these airport terminals as their entry point to the Philippines.

Gordon said he himself got a firsthand experience of the inconvenience caused by the runway congestion recently, recalling that he nearly missed his connecting flight to Istanbul last April 15.

The senator said they were scheduled to take off at 9:45 p.m. “We had to wait on the runway for more than one hour before we were given clearance to take off. I was afraid we would miss our connecting flight in Istanbul,” he said.