DoT prepares four-point program to decongest Naia

August 3, 2016 at 17:00

Congestion at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) would soon be reduced, if not completely eliminated, once the Department of Transportation (DoT) starts rolling its four-point program to address the problem.

“We will transfer General Aviation [GenAv] to Sangley, we will do it in stages and we’re prohibiting them from operating from 12 noon until 7 p.m.,” said Robert Lim, DoT undersecretary for Transportation-Aviation and Airports.

“They can’t fly within that window to help decongest the use of the airport tarmac, runways and taxiways, while the private jets, business jets and VIPs can operate before 12 noon or after 7 p.m., Lim told the BusinessMirror on Monday night during the inaugural flight of an Ethiopian B787 Dreamliner from Addis Ababa.

He said the DoT had three meetings with GenAv operators, where they have arrived at the best approach to the issue, and the stakeholders have agreed to the proposal.

“We will soon issue an administrative order regarding what was agreed upon,” Lim added.

On the other hand, he said they also had a series of dialogue with the country’s big carriers on how to carry out parceling some of their flights so that some of them could operate at the Naia and the others at Clark.

Lim said Philippine Airlines (PAL) and Cebu Pacific were brought into the discussions and were asked to choose which of their flights would be brought to Clark.

“Both of these carriers can help two ways—they can help decongest the Naia and help in the growth of Clark,” Lim said, adding the two airlines would soon come up with a decision on which routes their respective flights can take out of Clark.

The third option is the one offered by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (Caap), where the latter adopts flights and processes on how to effectively and efficiently use runway 31 to accept more flights.

The Naia has a main runway 06-24 and a secondary runway  13-31. Both runways could not be used simultaneously if an aircraft is taking off on 06-24 and another one is to take off on 13-31.

However, by sequencing flights, air-traffic controllers could simultaneously allow take-off on runway 06-24 and take-off on runway 31, facing Manila Bay, Lim said.

“There are techniques of sequencing these flights, a process of entering airplanes for landing and take-off, and it could add up to open the capacity of the Naia.”

The fourth option, Lim revealed, involves a runway optimization study being completed by the British Company National Air Transport Society (NATS).

“They were engaged by the government to study what could be improved at the Naia to increase flights and, once finished, we will see where we can improve the situation [at the premier airport].”

Lim said NATS is using a computer simulation of the actual uses of the Naia, and the computer model would give NATS the idea where it can increase the flights.

Currently, the Naia has 40 runway events per hour, which is the hourly number of landings and takeoffs.

During a recent interview, British Ambassador Asif Ahmad said NATS, formerly National Air Traffic Services, was able to increase the runway events to 60 per hour at Heathrow Airport, which he said could be adopted to the Naia, using the present runway configuration.

NATS is the main air-navigation service provider in the United Kingdom and it also provides air-traffic control services to 14 UK airports.

“There are many processes that we have adopted and, once started, they could help decrease congestion,” Lim said, adding the next step is to finish the study on the Naia privatization.

“We’re headed that way, we have started the study last year and we will continue and review it and make a decision when the privatization would be made.”

“There is definitely a decision this year, but the awarding would probably be done next year,”
Lim added.

Meanwhile, Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 628 from Addis Ababa via Bangkok flew in late at 8:45 p.m. on Monday night.

The flight was carried out via a brand-new B787 Dreamliner. Ethiopia is the first African country to use the aircraft.

Ethiopian Airlines has been flying between Manila and Addis Ababa for a year, initially starting with three flights a week and was lately increased to four times a week.

The International Air Transport Association ranked Ethiopian as the largest airline in Africa in revenue and profit, according to Country Manager Solomon Bekele.

The air carrier flies to 90 destinations across five continents.

“The airlines has become one of Ethiopia’s major industries and a veritable institution in Africa,” Bekele added, saying the carrier has a fleet of 80 aircraft comprised of 14 B787, B777-300ER, B777-200LR Freighter and Bombardier Q-400 with double cabin.

“Ethiopian Airlines is the first airline in Africa to own and operate these aircraft,” Bekele said.

Ethiopian started flying out of Manila in July 2015.

Bekele said Ethiopian has joined Star Alliance 15 years ago. The alliance is the world’s largest and most prestigious network, enabling the carrier to enjoy seamless travel experience as it is allowed access to 18,500 daily departures in 1,316 airports in 192 countries.

Guests at the event include DoT Undersecretary Robert Lim, Manila International Airport Authority General Manager Ed Monreal; PAL President and COO Jaime Bautista; Tourism Assistant Secretary Malou Japson; Fernando Miguel, minister counselor of Angola; and Christian Mahakwen of Nigeria.

Source: https://www.businessmirror.com.ph/2016/08/02/dot-prepares-four-point-program-to-decongest-naia/