Marcos wants UK airport practices applied in Philippine gateways

MANILA, Philippines — Following embarrassing glitches at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), President Marcos did not waste the opportunity while in the United Kingdom for King Charles III’s coronation to learn from the country’s best practices and apply them in improving Philippine airports.

Marcos and his delegation arrived on Friday night at London’s Gatwick Airport, where he, along with Speaker Martin Romualdez and Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista, received a tour and a briefing from officials of the Global Infrastructure Partners, which runs one of UK’s busiest gateways.

“Our vision for safe, efficient and sustainable airports in the Philippines is one step closer to reality,” Marcos said in a post on Twitter yesterday after exploring Gatwick Airport’s best practices firsthand.

The President described the meeting and tour as “productive” and cited Gatwick Airport for its “exceptional infrastructure, technology and operations.”

“This learning experience has provided us with valuable insights as to how we can develop the truly world-class airports we aspire to build in the Philippines,” he said.

Gatwick is the second busiest airport in the UK, next to Heathrow.

In a tweet on Friday, Marcos said: “We made the most of our time at Gatwick Airport, meeting with its executives and taking a comprehensive tour. We gathered valuable insights to improve Philippine airports and boost tourism at home.”

Last May 1, over 40 flights at the NAIA Terminal 3 were canceled and delayed as the terminal experienced hours of power outage.

An air traffic system failure also disrupted operations at the NAIA on Jan. 1, affecting over 56,000 passengers and more than 300 inbound and outbound flights.

Last year, NAIA, considered as the main gateway to the Philippines, was named one of the worst airports in the world by travel website, hawaiianislands.com

In an interview in the US on Thursday, Marcos said he chose to land in Gatwick to observe its operation and see if this could be replicated in the Philippine airports.

“Usually, I don’t go to Gatwick but today I will go to Gatwick because I will check the operation of their airport to see if it is appropriate – the lessons they learned, the things they are doing, if those are best practices we can bring to the Philippines,” the Chief Executive said in Filipino.

‘Reopen Subic Airport’

Back home, former senator Richard Gordon said that Subic Bay International Airport (SBIA) should be reopened as an alternative gateway to NAIA.

“It’s about time the original vision of making SBIA the alternate airport to Manila happened. It’s time we Filipinos look at what we have and make good use of it; otherwise, what a waste,” Gordon said.

Gordon, a former Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority chairman, stressed the importance of the SBIA, along with Clark International Airport in Pampanga, as alternate airports to the country’s premier gateway.

He cited the scheduled six-hour closure of NAIA on May 17 for an upgrading of its uninterruptible power supply unit as an occasion when the SBIA becomes crucially important.

“By using SBIA as an alternate airport, we will prevent the frustration and inconvenience experienced by many passengers who are stranded for hours or days whenever there are issues at NAIA. Nobody gets angry; passengers will get to their destinations without delay,” Gordon said. – Cecille Suerte Felipe