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PAL, AirAsia may not be able to move flights to Sangley Airport
Philippine Airlines (PAL) and Philippines AirAsia Inc. are still unsure if they will be able to transfer some commercial flights to Sangley Airport in Cavite once it becomes operational by November.
The airlines noted the Sangely gateway may not be able to accommodate their current fleet of aircraft.
On Wednesday, five airlines signed a pledge of commitment and support to develop Sangley Airport and decongest the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Pasay City.
Only budget carrier Cebu Pacific has so far said it would be able to transfer commercial flights to the alternative airport in Cavite.
“Once Sangley is built, we will have flights there. I think the first step of this is we will be having our cargo turboprop flights there,” Cebu Pacific president and CEO Lance Gokongwei said.
PAL and Philippines AirAsia, however, were not able to make a definite commitment at this point regarding the transfer of flights to Sangley.
“At this point in time, I’m not sure if we still have some turboprops. What we could do is … do some studies … I hope that we can talk about it and discuss it,” PAL officer-in-charge Vivienne Tan said.
Likewsie, Philippines AirAsia president and CEO Dexter Comendador said the carrier now operates Airbus 320 planes, which Sangley might not be able to accommodate.
“For Philippines AirAsia, we operate only Airbus 320s. So, at the moment, we’ll not be able to utilize Sangley,” Comendador noted.
“Until Sangley is able to accommodate the jets, then we will consider moving our base to Sangley,” he said.
Early this month, Duterte ordered the “immediate” transfer of general aviation or domestic flight operations to Sangley Point in Cavite to ease congestion at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
During a press briefing in Malacañang, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo clarified that Duterte wants Sangley Airport to accommodate domestic flights starting November.
Apart from the commitment to develop other gateways, especially Sangley Airport, the airlines also pledged to support government efforts to decongest NAIA and improve the convenience of their passengers.
“We thank Cebu Pacific, Philippine Airlines, AirAsia, PAL Express, and CEBGo for uniting in this goal of providing comfort to the Filipino people. This initiative is a testament to the many ways the government and private sector can work together to solve problems. However, I am expecting that this commitment will not just remain a piece of paper, but will be implemented effectively and felt immediately by our passengers,” Tugade said.
The commitment aims to address the growing demand for air travel in the Philippines.
Just before 2016 until 2018, NAIA’s annual passenger traffic increased from 36.5 million to 45 million, or 130% beyond its design capacity.
The number of flights rose by 5.75%, resulting in an “escalated” use of airport slots per hour by 22.2% or from 36 to 44.
Tugade still has no details on how much the passenger traffic would decline at NAIA once Sangley Airport is operational as the airlines have yet to submit the exact number of flights they will transfer to the Cavite airport.
Under the Pledge of Commitment, the airlines committed to review their flight operations to rationalize the number of flights, aircraft movement and rotation, as well as the use of slots and flying rights to improve on-time performance.
The signatories also committed to support the development of mechanisms of discipline in the event of flight aberrations within their control.
They vowed to cooperate with government and other regulatory agencies that have the authority to determine actionable or punishable occurrences involving the airlines. —VDS, GMA News
