Let’s do it

of the inter-agency Investment Coordination Council and the National Economic and Development Authority this April.

San Miguel’s proposal would decongest the air traffic flow at NAIA, create jobs and perk-up domestic activities not only in Bulacan but in nearby towns and provinces.

Business groups, notably the Management Association of the Philippines, the Makati Business Club, and Financial Executives of the Philippines rallied for the government to “expeditiously” upgrade NAIA. This approach “appears to be the most costeffective and fastest solution to the severe congestion.” MAP has taken this position along with expanding Clark International Airport.

PAL President and Chief Operating Officer Jimmy J. Bautista supports the need for all stakeholders to work on a new Manila airport, with the runways and terminals needed to support the growing economy. The urgent need, though, is to expand NAIA to better cope with growing passenger volumes in the next five to 10 years, while a new airport is being developed.

The country cannot afford to have another Xiamen mess of the same magnitude.

Also, let us not lose sight of fact that the incident that paralyzed the operations of the premier gateway meant foregone revenues and opportunity lost for both the government and airline firms, including support service operations.

As I write this, PAL is still in the process of collating the facts and figures. “We are still tallying the data on the losses caused by the Xiamen incident,” Mr. Jimmy said.

The flag carrier financially suffered the most. All airlines serving Manila did, but PAL is the largest international airline operating at NAIA with the biggest number of wide-body flights. And because the closed runway is the only runway that can handle wide-body aircraft and long-haul flights, it bore the highest cost.

We have to step up. Let’s do it.