EDITORIAL - Phaseout

The idea of moving the Ninoy Aquino International Airport to Pampanga has been tossed around since the Senate decided to shut down the US bases including the one in Clark Field. The eruption of Mt. Pinatubo hastened the Americans’ departure. The devastation also delayed for several years the Philippines’ plan to use the air base for civil aviation.

As lahar solidified and the air base was cleared of volcanic debris, a commercial airport started rising from the ashes. The facility became busy enough for it to be renamed after one of Pampanga’s most prominent sons, the late President Diosdado Macapagal, and to operate as an international airport.

But the DMIA, which is more spacious than NAIA, remains under-utilized. At a Senate hearing this week, Transportation and Communications Secretary Mar Roxas II reiterated the possibility of transferring the NAIA to Clark. Roxas was responding to comments made in the course of a hearing on the NorthRail project. But he pointed out that the distance of the DMIA to Metro Manila – 85 kilometers to the NAIA – made any transfer still far off.

The distance was also a concern raised by commercial carriers when they were sounded out on moving their operations to the DMIA to decongest the NAIA. Without a high-speed rail linking the DMIA to Metro Manila, many passengers would still prefer the NAIA, and airline companies would be reluctant to transfer operations.

Even if the 440-hectare NAIA would be privatized, raising an estimated $2.5 billion that could finance the transfer of the airport to Clark, it could take years before the facility becomes fully operational. A more feasible option is a gradual phaseout of the NAIA. Some activities have already been moved to the DMIA, including certain cargo operations and flight training. The NLEX has cut distance between Pampanga and Metro Manila, although traffic is still bad at key exit points and the toll is prohibitive for many motorists. But commercial carriers can operate shuttles to Metro Manila for their passengers, cargo and employees.

It might be too much to expect the transfer of the NAIA when the government cannot even make the NAIA Terminal 3 fully operational. But the country has a congested premier airport and another facility that isn’t being utilized at full capacity. A gradual transfer of many NAIA operations to the DMIA is feasible and should result in more efficient airport services.