Foreign carriers remain keen on using the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 (Naia 3) despite its limited facilities as it has yet to become fully operational, Transportation Secretary Manuel Roxas II said.
“Jet Airways is interested. There are others that have indicated [interest] as well,” Roxas said on Wednesday when asked which airlines wanted to use Naia 3.
Japanese airline All Nippon Airways was the first foreign carrier to operate in the new unfinished facility. It now has daily flights servicing the Manila-Narita route.
The Japanese contractor Takenaka Corp. has yet to complete some portions of the terminal. Takenaka is the primary subcontractor of the Philippine International Air Terminals Co. (Piato), which bagged the Naia 3 build-operate-transfer contract. Roxas said Takenaka’s contract was set to expire “soon,” his way, observers said, of telling the Japanese firm to hurry up and finish the job.
The new terminal is already being used by Cebu Pacific and Air Philippines, although it still has to be fully completed. A portion of the ceiling of the terminal collapsed in 2007.
Meanwhile, Roxas said he hoped the Category 2 status slapped by the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on the Philippines would be lifted soon.
“There will be an interim review in December. We hope to get a good indication by December of what else we need to do so that when the final review happens next year, we will be ready,” he said.
The US FAA downgraded the Philippines to Category 2 safety status in January 2008. This effectively prohibited local carriers from expanding their operations in the US.
Philippine Airlines, for instance, is limited to flying 33 times a week to various destinations in the US, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Honolulu, Guam and Las Vegas via Vancouver, until the Category 2 status is lifted.
“The basic challenge here has to do with rigor and comprehensiveness on our regulation. For example, not having a manual or checklist for all these regulations, is really something that has to be addressed,” Roxas said.
