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MANILA, Philippines — The government Sunday vowed to improve the capacity of provincial airports to accommodate night flights to trim down the demand for the runway services of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) complex during daytime.
Transportation and Communications Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II said the installation of radar and avionics that will help aircrafts land in provincial airports during night time is one of the long-term solutions of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DoTC) to the perennial problem of congestion at NAIA.
At present, the intersecting design of the NAIA runways limits its capacity to accommodate only at least 36 events, either a landing or takeoff, for every hour. Since domestic airports can only accommodate flights during daytime, domestic flights rival with international flights for the slots to use the NAIA runway, thus adding to the worsening daytime air traffic.
“Once our provincial airports are installed with night flight capability, it can accommodate trips beyond 6 p.m. and this scenario can help lessen the daytime demand for the runway at NAIA,” Roxas said.
The DoTC chief said new airports in Bacolod and Iloilo will be the first ones to be installed with the radars and avionics needed for the night flight capacity, while those in Tagbilaran, Dumaguete, and airports of tourist destinations will follow as a priority. “Aside from the growth in tourism, the expected increase of aircraft fleets of our domestic air lines necessitates that we expand the capacity of our domestic airports and especially NAIA,” he added.
Roxas refused to divulge how much is needed to install the necessary equipment for the night flight capacity for every domestic airport, saying it is still under study.
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By: Kris Bayos
Source: Manila Bulletin, October 31, 2011
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