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DOTr To Open Baguio For Commercial Traffic Next Year


 30 August 2022

The Department of Transportation (DOTR) is earmarking 68 million for rehabilitation of Loakan airport terminal as it prepares itself to accommodate commercial traffic next year.

Director General Capt. Manuel Antonio Lara Tamayo of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) disclosed over the weekend that Baguio airport is in bad shape and too small to accommodate passenger traffic on the biggest turboprop airline intends to operate.

"The biggest plane it used to received was the Fokker 50 which is a 50 seater plane. Nowadays, airlines used a 80-90 seater plane," says Tamayo.

PAL earlier manifested intent to fly Manila-Loakan 5 times a week should airport reopens to the public using Q400 aircraft.

The Director General said the current passenger terminal cannot handle that number of people.

"And that is not the end of the problem for Loakan. We still have to contend with other airport facilities, such as navigation, drainage, runway safe areas, and the weather which could be problem for airlines," Tamayo adds.

CAAP is looking to extend the length of the runway by at least 100 meters from the present 1,683 meters, and clear natural and man made obstructions along the airside.

"Its a safety concern. It would not be a problem if a small plane is used. But airline operators got bigger planes now." says the CAAP head.

At least 35 natural obstructions were listed by the air regulator as plane hazard that needs to be removed within the airport premises. CAAP also needs to install new drainage and repair clogged drains costing another 20 million, caused by typhoon in 2018.

Baguio Mayor Benjamin Magalong earlier discussed with Transport Secretary Jaime J. Bautista on residents encroachment to airport premises affecting commercial airport operations, and the City executive has promised to remove and demolish building structures obstructing the airport to restart commercial operations.

“There are at least 300 houses located within the buffer zone. We need to deal with the illegal structures within the airport reservation now if we want to open the airport,” Magalong said.

According to the City of Baguio, more than a hundred individuals have been given notices to vacate by the city government since 2020 that they are within the buffer zone, and more than half of them have left already paving the City to demolish structures. The rest of the houses are still there.

Magalong said, houses and other structures obstructing its buffer zone will need to be removed and human activities such as walking or crossing on the runway will no longer be allowed. 

The City mayor also said they may have to re-align the access road to widen the clear area.

CAAP safety regulation requires a commercial airport runway to have a clear area of 150-meter width which Loakan fails due to terrain issues.

Usually the airport regulator issues special operating conditions reducing the clear area to 80 meters for the airport, taking into account natural obstructions on both sides as the buffer zone, but this safe zone was already invaded by residents.

"We have to remove this obstruction before we allow airlines to operate,"  says Tamayo.

Loakan Airport is built by the Americans in 1934 and has served domestic flights until 1998 when PAL abandoned turboprop operations which used to operate at the airport regularly. 

Small airline operators Seair and Asian Spirit managed to operate at the airport in the past after 1999 but was eventually plagued by airport closures due to weather conditions until commercial services terminated in 2012 due to low traffic conditions. 

It eventually was closed for commercial traffic in 2014 after it failed to pass aviation security audit due to safety concerns amidst continuing encroachment to its runway safety area (RSA). 

Currently, the airport only services chartered and military flights on demand.

 

Lufthansa Technik Opens New Hangar

 

LTP has officially opened new hangar which adds 3 more maintenance lines to the existing seven.

 30 August 2022

Lufthansa Technik Philippines (LTP) has officially opened a new hangar Friday, which adds three more maintenance lines to its existing seven lines and is expected to increase growing demand for aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MROs) services by up to 20 percent at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Manila, and provide work for additional 275 employees. 

The MRO facility will provide base maintenance for various commercial aircraft of short-to long-range capacities, including Airbus jets A320, A330, A380, and the Boeing 777.

The new Hangar dubbed A1 is the company’s fourth, and initially broke ground in November 27, 2019. It was originally scheduled to open in September 2020 but was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite the two-year delay, the construction of the new Hangar was completed this year.

LTP, a joint venture of Germany’s Lufthansa Technik AG and MacroAsia Corp., inaugurated its Hangar 1A, which is a 9,000-square-meter facility that can be configured according to the need to provide room for four narrow-body aircraft, or one wide-body aircraft and two narrow-body aircraft. Alternatively, an Airbus A380 can also be accommodated.

President and Chief Executive Officer of Lufthansa Technik Philippines, Elmar Lutter has described the opening of the new hangar as a special milestone for Lufthansa Technik Philippines in the 22nd year of its existence in the country.

“It marks a transition from some of the most difficult times we have experienced as a company due to the pandemic to the current phase of noticeable recovery. This is concrete, tangible evidence that we see clearer skies ahead of us.” Lutter said.

LTP operates around the country servicing other airports in The Philippines, including Clark, Cebu, Davao, Kalibo, and Puerto Princesa. The MRO provider currently employs 2,600 Filipinos across these key cities.


DOTr To Privatize Airport Operations in Davao, Kalibo, Iloilo, and Panglao

 


29 August 2022

The Department of Transportation (Dotr) intends to offer for privatization the development, operations, and maintenance of four major airports under the public private partnership program, Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said over the weekend.

Bautista said the airports considered for privatization are the development, operations and maintenance of the Panglao, Davao, Iloilo and Kalibo airports.

DOTr earlier privatized the operations of Cebu and Clark airports, while Duterte administration cancelled the development, operations and maintenance of the Bacolod-Silay, Davao, Iloilo, Laguindingan and Panglao airports under the PPP procurement process due to financial pressures on the general public.

The Agency instead decided to pursue the projects through official development assistance from Korea for Panglao and Laguindingan airports for completion of the project. 

Meanwhile, airport development for Davao was earmarked under the general appropriations.

The Regional Airport PPP Projects were originally approved under a bundled PPP structure by the National Economic and Development Authority-Investment Coordination Committee and the NEDA Board. The board approved the unbundling of the five airports in November 2016.

DOTr To Complete Tacloban in 2024


 29 August 2022

The Department of Transportation (DoTr) has allocated ₱2.5 billion to upgrade three airports in 2023.

Under the DoTr's
2.5-billion Aviation Infrastructure Program in the 2023 national budget, Daniel Romualdez Airport would receive 1.42 billion, for construction of passenger terminal building and terminal support infrastructures, while Antique Airport would get 500 million for airside development. 

Meanwhile, Laoag International Airport would receive 445 million also for airside development, Bukidnon Airport would get 80 million for landing instruments, and Ninoy Aquino International Airport would receive P43 million for terminal improvements.

Dornier Secures Korean LCC Contracts


 25 August 2022

Clark-based maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) firm has secured contracts from three  low-cost carriers (LCC) of South Korea that have resumed services to the Philippines, the company disclosed recently.

Dornier Technologies Philippines announced that they were awarded contracts for line maintenance from three Korean low-cost carriers that have resumed services to the Philippines.

The South Korean LCCs were Air Busan, Air Seoul and Jeju Air.

Air Busan and Air Seoul are operating from Seoul Incheon to Kalibo using Airbus A320s and A321s aircraft, while Jeju Air is operating from Seoul Incheon to Bohol’s Panglao International Airport using Boeing 737-800s.

Dornier Technology Chief Operating Officer Joseph Espiritu says the Philippine market is very strong for South Korean carriers, because it is a popular leisure destination in close proximity to peninsula South Korea. 

Korea’s close proximity to the Philippines means South Korean carriers are mostly serving the Philippines using short-haul narrowbody aircraft such as A320s and 737s, says Espiritu.

"There are also many Koreans living in the Philippines, so the airlines benefit from having a mix of leisure and visit friends and relatives (VFR) traffic,"Espiritu said. 

"VFR traffic was the first segment to recover from the pandemic", he adds.

Espiritu says Dornier Technology is popular with foreign carriers because it is the Philippines’ largest independent MRO organisation. 

“We serve multiple international and domestic airline customers. We have achieved cost savings through ‘economies of scale’ and are able to pass on those savings to our customers, making us a very price competitive line maintenance organisation,” said Espiritu. 

“Dornier Technology has a depth and breadth of experience, which means we can serve airlines that operate different aircraft types. We can also provide value-added services, such as warehousing and logistics for aircraft spare parts.”

Dornier Technology has nearly 200 employees and plans to increase its workforce to 250 by year-end to meet the growth of its line and base maintenance business. 

The company does airframe heavy maintenance, otherwise known as base maintenance, at Clark International Airport outside Manila. It has nine line maintenance stations: Bohol, Caticlan, Cebu, Clark, Davao, Iloilo, Kalibo, Manila and Puerto Princesa.

CEB Books $180 Million Net Loss For the First Half

12 August 2022

Low cost carrier Cebu Air Inc. (CEB) reported a net loss of US$180 million (₱9.5 billion) during the first six months of the year.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Thursday, the airline revenues expanded 337% year-on-year to US$263.5 million (₱13.97 billion) as its passenger and ancillary business recovered in the second quarter due to looser travel restrictions.

Revenues from its cargo operations also grew 15% year-on-year to $32 million (₱1.7 billion) in the first half.

Operating expenses ballooned 86% year-on-year to $316.9 million (₱16.8 billion) in the second quarter, mostl driven by pricier jet fuel costs accounting 35% of of its operating cost.

Marcos To Complete Duterte Airport Projects

 4 August 2022

The Marcos administration will complete the building of provincial airports of the Duterte administration, the Department of Transportation (DoTr) said on Wednesday.

“We are building new airports in Zamboanga, Dumaguete, Masbate, and Bukidnon,” Transportation Undersecretary for Planning and Project Development Timothy John R. Batan said during a briefing.

Mr. Batan said these airport projects in Zamboanga, Dumaguete, Masbate, and Bukidnon were originally part of the Build, Build, Build project of the Duterte Administration whose funding was diverted to fight the Covid19 pandemic.

“They are in the pipeline, and except for Bukidnon Airport which is already being constructed, Zamboanga, Dumaguete and Masbate  are still in the early stages of project development.”

DoTr earmarked P1.8-billion in 2019 for airport development in Barangay Maraymaray in Don Carlos, Bukidnon.

Under the Duterte administration, completed projects included the new passenger terminal at Clark International Airport, the new Bicol International Airport, Mactan-Cebu International Airport, Bohol-Panglao International Airport, Puerto Princesa International Airport, Zamboanga International Airport, Catarman Airport, Calbayog Airport, Siquijor Airport, General Santos Airport, and Ormoc Airport.

“Other notable projects for the country’s aviation and airports include the establishment of the long-delayed communications, navigation, surveillance/air traffic management, as well as the night-rating of 23 commercial airports,” the DoTr said.

Mr. Batan also clarified that San Miguel Corp.’s P740-billion New Manila International Airport (NMIA) project in Bulacan is part of the Build, Build, Build Project which the Marcos Administration will continue.

“We will also coordinate with the Cavite province for the Sangley airport,” he said.

 DoTr disclosed that among the pipeline for airport development next year is the expansion of airports in Vigan, Baler, Roxas City, and Virac, as well as completion of night rating of airports across the country which funding was also affected by the pandemic.


PAL Books $71 Million Net Income In First Half

 4 August 2022

Flag carrier Philippine Airlines has booked net profit of US$71 million in the first half of the year supported by 258 percent growth in passenger revenues and a 31 percent growth in cargo revenues for January to June 2022, as compared to the same period in 2021.

The airline  earned $ 1.1 billion (58.1 billion) in revenues while incurring only $986 billion (51.5 billion) in operating expenses, despite rising fuel prices billing them $380 million (P19.9 billion).

 PAL President & COO Capt. Stanley K. Ng said the threefold jump in passenger revenue is “ a demonstration of the loyal support of our PAL customers and a validation of the efforts of our shareholders, management and personnel to rebuild our international and domestic network,”

“So, we will continue to be fiscally prudent as we mobilize our talents and resources to grow responsibly, in a way that helps boost tourism, supports overseas Filipinos and offers the best value to travelers and cargo shippers,” he adds.

PAL has successfully exited restructuring on 31 December 2021.