CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga — Philippine Airlines (PAL) will launch more domestic flights from Clark International Airport (CRK) starting next month.
The new domestic connections are seen to help relieve the congestion at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
On December 1, flights from Clark to Masbate, Calbayog and Catarman will be launched wherein PAL’s 86-seater dual class Bombardier Q400s will serve the new domestic connections from Pampanga.
By December 15, PAL will open two new routes: Clark–Bacolod and Clark–Tagbilaran.
Clark–Cagayan de Oro and Clark–Virac flights are slated to begin on December 16 and 10, respectively.
On January 15, 2018, the airline will open Clark–Naga and Clark–Legaspi flights.
PAL’s nine new routes are in addition to the current routes from Clark, Pampanga, namely: Clark–Busuanga, Clark–Caticlan, Clark–Cebu, Clark–Davao and Clark–Puerto Princesa.
Alexander Cauguiran, president and CEO of the Clark International Airport Corporation (CIAC), earlier said that the continued increase in flight operations of major airlines at the Clark airport confirms the viability of the national government’s dual airport policy.
Cauguiran said that compared to previous years, more airlines are now appreciating CRK’s marketability and its increasing number of local destinations.
The CRK has already recorded 1.1 million passengers from January to October 31, 2017 and passenger traffic is projected to reach 1.4 million by year-end, even before the construction of the new passenger terminal and runway has begun.
“Clark can never be the main airport of Manila and we do not compete with NAIA operations since Clark caters to passengers from Northern and Central Luzon while NAIA targets Metro Manila and the southern population,” he said. (PNA)
