CDC president Antonio R. Ng said the LCC terminal has to be expanded to accommodate 2.5 million passengers from the present capacity of 1 million passengers.

Ng said the bidding for the project would start in June and awarding in September this year as more LLC airlines flock into Clark. There are now five LCCs operating direct flights to Clark from 7 cities for a total of 41 flights a week and is expected to reach 75 flights a week by end this year.

Ng said that Viva Macao and Cebu Pacific are also exploring possibility of flying to Clark. Air Philippines and Asian Spirit also operate domestic flights in Clark.

This would position the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport as Asia’s Most affordable gateway. CDC has reserved a total of 2,700 hectares for aviation development, which is four times larger than the 600 hectares of the two NAIA 1 and 2 areas.

On the other hand, Ng said that CDC is making available $ 1.5 million or P75 million for the conduct of a feasibility study for the gateway terminal. Bidding for the feasibility study is set in June and awarding by August.

Originally, the terminal gateway was supposed to start fully operational by 2015 when the Ninoy Aquino International Airport would have exceeded its passenger capacity.

But Ng said the 2015 is likely to be accelerated by two years to 2012 because of the increased volume in air traffic.

Aside from the low cost airlines, the sprawling DMIA also operates cargo flights. At present, UPS has 10 flights daily. The American express cargo has just changed aircraft from B737 to MD 11 for bigger loading capacity to 80 tons from 50 tons or a 60 percent increase in capacity.

Yantze River Express, feeder planes for UPS, flies six flights weekly. Other cargo flights include Pacific East Asia Cargo with six flights weekly and TransGlobal Airways is entering with 12 flights a week to Xiamen and Taipei.

CDC data showed that international passenger traffic has grown 456 percent to 34,461 monthly passengers in December 2005 as against 6,197 in December 2004. (BCM)

Domestic cargo volume also went up by 24 percent to 3.8 million kilograms in 2005 from 3.1 million kgs in 2004.

With the opening of the North Luzon Expressway, the former American military airfield is only an hour away from Manila and 30 minutes away from Subic.

Ng said that Clark is being transformed into an international logistics hub of the country in tandem with Subic, an international seaport. (BCM)