CLARK International Airport can handle more than two dozen jets should diversions happen during the rainy season, the chief executive of Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) said on Tuesday.
Alexander Cauguiran, the state-owned company’s president, said Clark has implemented stringent safety and security measures to accommodate flight diversions from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia).
“Clark airport is able and ready to accommodate at least 30 aircraft should there be flight diversions, especially at the onset of the rainy season, as we have ample facilities and aircraft-parking slots, hotel accommodations, transportation services, and emergency and technical services,” he said.
Last week 11 flights were diverted to Clark after the runway at the Naia was temporarily shut down for several hours to give way to emergency repairs of a large pothole at runway 06-24.
Cauguiran said the airport’s engineering and security personnel are directed to work overtime in preparation for the Asean Summit in November, with some related meetings held in Clark.
Security measures are also being undertaken to discourage the proliferation of informal settlers at the Clark Civil Aviation Complex (CCAC) who raise farm-produced crops.
Cauguiran said the present board members approved the replacement of Cerberus Security in November last year, the past management’s security force at the CCAC, due to “lapse in security”, referring to the unregulated access of unauthorized persons to the CCAC area.
“Under this administration, we have established tougher security measures to control informal settlers and heighten security efforts,” he said.
The informal settlers, most of them farmers, have been occupying the Clark area even before the Clark Freeport Zone was built.
Apart from the ongoing census and other social- preparation activities to compensate the settlers, Cauguiran said he has directed the airport’s security personnel to prohibit settlers from bringing in agriculture inputs, such as rice and corn seeds, which lure in birds, equipment and other farm implements to prevent any incidence of bird strikes.
“Clark’s safety measures are pursuant to international and national safety regulations. The more flights we have at Clark, the higher the probability of bird strikes happening, that is why we have to control informal settlers and farming activities in the surrounding areas,” he said.
Clark serviced 950,732 passengers in 2016. This year, the airport is projected to handle about 1.5 million passengers by end of 2017.