GENERAL aviation operators not directly involved in airline operations will be asked to leave the congested Ninoy Aquino International Airport to provide additional aviation space, incoming Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said Tuesday.
Tugade said he will issue a notice to general aviation operators to move out of the 44-hectare airport within his first 100 days in office, but they will be given sufficient time to do so.
“We will give them enough time to move out. I cannot say they have to move out outright. I have to give them also an alternative place to go to,” Tugade said in a television interview.
Among those to be affected by the order are companies involved in plane charters, air cargo, aviation training and aircraft maintenance, Tugade said.
He noted that one of the causes of air congestion at the Naia is the abuse of slot privileges and the turnover time of airplanes.
“The ideal slot capacity of Naia is 32. As far as I know, they are reaching up to 40 to 41 right now,” Tugade said.
Under the new plan, he said from 18 to 22 percent of airport space will be freed if general aviation operators not directly involved airline operations move to nearby Sangley Air Base or Fernando Air Base in Lipa, Batangas.
Tugade said he can hasten the relocation of general aviation operators if he had special authorization stemming from the special powers he had earlier proposed for President-elect Rodrigo Duterte to deal with the lingering crisis in the transportation sector.
“I need emergency powers to do these things. First is to remove aviation. Second is to fix Sangley for their immediate move-in,” Tugade said, adding that he had already spoken with some private plane owners who have not opposed the proposal.
He noted, however, that there’s no need to transfer the Naia to the Clark International Airport in Pampanga. “There is no such thing as transferring one airport to another. All of these airports can co-exist,” he said.
The important thing that needs to be done is to improve the country’s airports and to make traveling convenient for the public.
Tugade is also eyeing the construction and development of at least six airports at the start of Duterte’s term, including the Clark International Airport and NAIA.
In the roadmap laid down by the Duterte administration on transportation reform, among those being eyed is to cut the PPP bidding process down to six months.