Passenger volume in Clark airport up 62% in Q1

Passenger volume at the Clark International Airport surged 62 percent in the first quarter of the year, or 408,895 compared to 252,163 in the same period last year, according to the Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC).   On a by-month basis, CIAC said passengers who used the international gateway in Pampanga surged 71.6 percent to 153,920 in January, by 57.3 percent to 123,349 in February, and by 56.6 percent to 131,626 in March. CIAC attributed this to the steady increase in the number of international flights that is expected to increase further with the decision of Emirates to transform the international gateway as a hub later this year. “We expect this to further increase as we are anticipating the start of the Emirates non-stop daily flights between Dubai and Clark and vice versa on October 1,” said CIAC president and chief executive officer Victor Jose Luciano on Wednesday. The CIAC, which is currently pursuing a P360-million expansion project, expects the number of international and domestic passengers using the Clark International Airport to hit two million this year. Luciano said once the expansion project of the existing passenger terminal is completed in September, the capacity of the existing terminal will be doubled to four to five million passengers from the current capacity of two to 2.5 million. “The existing terminal can only accommodate two million passengers annually, while the new passenger terminal expansion will further boost its capacity to 4 to 5 million passengers annually. The expansion project is expected to be completed by September,” he said. — KBK, GMA News