PAL 747 now flies to Socsksargen

Business leaders in the South Cotabato-Sultan Kudarat-Sarangani-General Santos City (SOCSKSARGEN) area in Mindanao have lauded the decision of Philippine Airlines (PAL) to replace its wide-bodied Airbus 330 jet plying the route with a bigger Boeing 747.

SOCSKSARGEN is a leading producer of at least eight major Philippine commodities, including sashimi-grade tuna, processed fish products, canned and fresh pineapple, copra, coconut oil, banana and asparagus.

According to Juancho Dimaguila, PAL manager in Gen. Santos City, their decision was based on an urgent consideration to accommodate the increasing air cargo volume from Manila to Gen. Santos City.

Dimaguila explained that though there is an ongoing hostilities in Mindanao, after a thorough evaluation, "PAL had confidence in both the national and local governments' ability to maintain law and order in the GenSan area."

Early this week, PAL fielded its inaugural B-747 flight from Manila to the General Santos City Airport. According to an airline official, this was the first time that a B-747--more commonly used on international routes-- has landed in Mindanao.

Gen. Santos has one of the largest international-standard airports in the country, and can easily accommodate wide-body jets on its 3,200-meter by 45-meter runway. Equipped with modern navigational aids, the $48.8-million international airport was jointly funded by the government and the United States Agency for International Development. (USAID).

Following the airport's completion in 1996, the volume of passenger traffic has been climbing yearly at an average rate of 26.27 percent, while cargo traffic volume has registered a tremendous growth rate of 73.26 percent annually.

According to Gen. Santos City Air Transportation Office, an increase of 16.31 percent in passenger volume was recorded for the first quarter of this year, from 67,244 passengers in Jan.-April 1999 to 78,216 for the same period this year. Last year's passenger traffic totalled 208,948, up 24 percent from the 1988 figure.

The ATO report noted that air cargo volume from January to April this year reached 2,694.7 metric tons, an increase of 16 percent from 2,490.6 metric tons recorded for the same period last year. A 36.91 percent rise in air cargo was noted last year which was pegged at 8,694 metric tons. This record exceeds by 13.75 percent the projection of 7,643 metric tons for 1999.

"We have seen solid growth of almost 900 percent in cargo traffic volume over the last five years," says Rene Subido, deputy chief of party of the development program Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM).

Noting that the total cargo traffic volume recorded in 1995 was only 1,000 metric tons, Subido said that the rise of modern infrastructure facilities in the city, such as the international-standard airport, seaport and roads, served to propel the remarkable performance of the cargo transport industry in the area. -- Nestor Etolle