Business Mirror
May 9, 2012
By Lenie Lectura and Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo
Instead of reducing the number of their domestic flights from Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia), local airlines were told to realign their flight schedules, not mount additional flights, while the government steps up efforts to decongest the runway at the country’s premier airport.
The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) said the number of commercial airlines has doubled to 119 compared to only 62 in 2008. As of 2006, these aircraft had served a total of 18 million passengers, with the number going up to 30 million in 2011. Aircraft movements or takeoffs from and landings at Naia rose to 255,000 in 2011 compared to 171,000 in 2006.
Naia’s runway can only accommodate an average of 36 events, or takeoffs and landings, per hour. But actual scheduled commercial and general aviation flights jumped to as high as 50 events per hour during daytime of the summer season, causing runway congestion and resulting in flight delays and cancellations.
Transportation Secretary Manuel Roxas II told a press briefing on Tuesday that flight schedules of local airlines will be realigned to free up slots during the peak hours of 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. “There will be a re-balance or re-schedule of domestic flights so as to shift bulk of the load to off-peak from peak hours,” he said.
Domestic flights account for 80 percent of the load of the Naia runway.
The government will construct two rapid-exit taxiways worth P300 million each to boost the flight-handling capacity of the runway from 36 to a target of 45 events.
At 36 events, aircraft exits the runway in one minute and 40 seconds while at 45 events, aircraft exits the runway in one minute and 20 seconds.
Roxas said construction of the two taxiways would be completed early next year.
In the meantime, airlines are prohibited from adding new flights, he announced. “Until these measures are realized, there will be no approvals for new flights. We don’t want to worsen the problem. Until we sort out the current problem and institute the capacity buildup measures, there will be no new flights,” Roxas said.
Airline officials were present when he made the announcement. The DOTC chief had invited Philippine Airlines President Ramon S. Ang, Cebu Pacific Air Chief Executive Officer Lance Gokongwei and Zest Air Board Member Art Alejandrino to join the news briefing.
Before the briefing started, Ang had told reporters that PAL would buy 49 new aircraft this year. This purchase is part of the flag carrier’s plan to buy 100 new units in the next five years.
Roxas cited other “burden-sharing ways to address congestion” at the Naia runway.
For instance, commercial flight arrivals and departures will be batched or grouped together to improve runway usage. The plan is from 7 to 7:15 a.m., 10 takeoffs will be allowed followed by 10 landings at 7:15 to 7:30 a.m. This translates to an additional two to four movements per hour.
Also, he said, Naia will be declared a “Captain’s Runway,” meaning only captains can take off from or land on the runway. Currently, first officers are allowed to facilitate flight takeoff of an aircraft as part of their training. With this measure, only the pilot-in-command has full control during takeoffs and landings, ensuring that a flight is within the average of 100 seconds per movement.
The DOTC is transferring commercial flights to and from airports that have night-landing capabilities. Aside from Manila, airports that have such capabilities are Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, Cagayan de Oro, Bacolod, Kalibo, Tacloban, Puerto Princesa, Zamboanga, General Santos and Laoag.
Roxas said airlines have agreed to conduct a study to adjust their schedules in order to transfer most of their flights to night-rated airports instead of lumping them during daytime. He added that this would not happen immediately because the airlines had sold a lot of tickets for future flights.
Fourteen more provincial airports would be night-rated. These airports are Tagbilaran, Legazpi, Dumaguete, Butuan, Ozamiz, Cotabato, Naga, Dipolog, Roxas, Pagadian, Tuguegarao, Busuanga, Surigao and San Jose (Mindoro). Estimated budget for this project is P800 million, exclusive of operational expenses.
Another measure being mulled to further decongest the runway is lowering of fees for takeoffs and landings at nighttime and increasing them at daytime.
Manila International Airport Authority (Miaa) General Manager Angel Honrado said his office is in talks with the Department of National Defense to transfer all general-aviation flights to Sangley Point in Cavite City. There are 82 general aviation flights per day in Naia.
The Department of Tourism has expressed support to the announced cap on flights out of Naia, despite its possible impact on tourist arrivals.
In a text message to the BusinessMirror, DOT Assistant Spokesman Domingo Ramon Enerio III said, “The open- skies policy encourages more direct flights to our secondary destinations so as to improve access without congesting Naia further.”
Avelino Zapanta, president of Southeast Asian Airlines, asked why the government is penalizing carriers for merely supporting its tourism goals. “The airlines invest so much in buying airplanes, then you will reduce their utilization?” he said in a separate interview.
“The government should first remove the general-aviation services and open up provincial airports rather than reduce the [number of] flights of airlines,” Zapanta said.
But, according to Enerio, “there are options that local and foreign carriers can avail of in the form of secondary airports.” He said that Naia is “already operating at 116 percent overcapacity.”
Aviation industry sources, however, said, even if the carriers transfer their flights to off-peak hours, many of their provincial destinations still lack night-landing facilities.
The DOT is targeting 10 million arrivals from abroad and 35.5 million domestic tourists by 2016.
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