Appointment of air traffic czar pushed

Recurring air traffic congestion that complicates the supposedly worry-free life of innocent passengers can be nipped in the bud by designating an “Air Traffic Czar” who can fix air traffic between the country’s main airport in Manila and another one in Clark in Pampanga.

“We would urge Malacañang to look for an air traffic czar who can manage commercial flight activity, compel airlines to reschedule flights if necessary, and to oversee the shift to Clark (International Airport),” House Minority Leader Marcelino Libanan proposes.

“This is the only way we can fix NAIA’s congestion and improve travel experience,” the leader of the Minority Bloc or opposition bloc in the House of Representatives said, citing “persistent flight delays at NAIA that often cause holdups in airports across the country.”

The four (4) terminals of Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay City have always been suffering delays, to the detriment of arriving and departing passengers, both local and international flights.

“Airlines can be persuaded to move more flights to Clark. In fact, the government can subsidize some of their relocation costs,” Libanan, who represents the party-list 4Ps, explained even as he prefers half of the total flights be transferred to Clark airport.

The opposition lawmaker has been pushing for the transfer of up to 50 percent of NAIA’s commercial flight activity to Clark by 2025, in time for the projected full recovery of global air travel from the pandemic.

At present, Clark already hosts 18 airlines that operate 686 weekly flights serving 14 international and 19 domestic destinations.

“There’s really no point in overloading NAIA with more flights, considering that we have Clark nearby that is four times larger, has unused capacity, and is ready to handle more aircraft and passengers at any given time,” Libanan said.—Delon