DOTr eyes more regional gateways for increased passenger arrivals

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Transportation (DOTr) is eyeing the use of more regional gateways in the country to address the need to increase capacity on arriving international passengers.

Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, at a virtual briefing yesterday, said various regional airports are being eyed to cater to arriving international flights, alongside the possibility of increasing the daily international arrival caps currently in place at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), Clark International Airport and Mactan Cebu International Airport.

“Regarding the capacity, it’s around 2,000 at the moment. If all of those will only arrive at NAIA, and a few in Clark and a few in Cebu, they will choke. That’s why I said, if we will raise the capacity from 2,000 to 3,000 (international passengers a day), there is also a need to increase the gateways,” Tugade said.

“Don’t just limit it to NAIA, Cebu and Clark. Let’s look if we can accommodate arrivals in General Santos Airport, Panglao, Ilocos, Laoag, Vigan. If that will be possible, then the more capacity we can accommodate,” he said.

Tugade said he has ordered the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) to explore the use of regional airports for arriving international flights.

“Of course, all of these will be subject to approval and coordination of the local government because you cannot simply go in and out of an area without the go signal and acceptance of the local government,” Tugade said.

CAAP chief of staff Danjun Lucas said initial coordination with certain local government units (LGUs) has been done, as resolutions from them are needed to allow international flights in their areas.

He said flag carrier Philippine Airlines is currently eyeing the possibility of operating flights from Kuala Lumpur to Panglao on Oct. 6 and 9.

“We are starting with General Santos and Panglao and we still have a lot more regional international airports in mind that could accept flights. All for our seafarers, OFWs and overseas Filipinos who want to go home, especially this coming Christmas season,” Lucas said.

Local airlines have asked the government to increase or even remove the daily arrival cap on international passengers to allow more Filipinos abroad to come home this holiday season.

“Of course if you ask us, we’d rather that there was no arrival cap because we have measures in place already. Ideally, there’s no cap, but I know it’s something that we need to work towards,” Cebu Pacific vice president for marketing and customer experience Candice Iyog said last week. – Ghio Ong