IATA urges Philippines to build more aviation infrastructure

October 27, 2017

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is urging the Philippine government to build more aviation infrastructure to serve more local and foreign tourists.

Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s director general and chief executive said aviation is vital to the Philippines supporting 1.2 million jobs and $9.2 billion in gross domestic product (GDP).

“But the social and economic benefits of air transport are at risk if the key issues of airport infrastructure, excessive regulation and taxation are not addressed,” De Juniac said during an aviation forum in Makati.

De Juniac said if more infrastructure can be built, the aviation sector would support 3.4 million jobs and $23 billion contribution to GDP by 2025.

Jaime Bautista, PAL president ad chief operating officer, expressed optimism about the aviation industry in the Philippines.

“We are very bullish as far as aviation is concerned. Traffic will continue to grow domestically and internationally and as mentioned by IATA ,we need more infrastructure for us to be able to sustain the growth,” Bautista said.

“PAL is expanding were taking delivery of more airplanes, we plan to fly to more destinations but we can only do this if we are supported by the government in terms of available infrastructure, “ he added.

IATA urged the Philippines to build a new greenfield airport with sufficient capacity to meet Manila’s aviation needs that is situated no greater than 50 kilometers from the city center as a long-term solution.

IATA projected annual passengers to reach 140 million by 2035, up from 60 million in 2014.

The Philippine government wants to build a new international airport that is 25 to 30 minutes away from Naia, which is expected to reach its full capacity soon.

The Ninoy Aquino International Airport handles 42 million passengers, higher than its designs capacity of 30 million passengers. DMS