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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider 'It will hurt tourism': Villafuerte asks Dizon to defer turboprop plane transfer

'It will hurt tourism': Villafuerte asks Dizon to defer turboprop plane transfer

Published Mar 3, 2025 12:17 am

At A Glance

  • Camarines Sur 2nd district Rep. Lray Villafuerte is asking the government to defer the planned transfer of all commercial turboprop plane operations from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Pasay City to the Clark International Airport (CIA) in Pampanga.

20250303_064133.jpgCamarines Sur 2nd district Rep. LRay Villafuerte (left), DOTr Secretary Vince Dizon (Facebook)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Camarines Sur 2nd district Rep. Lray Villafuerte is asking the government to defer the planned transfer of all commercial turboprop plane operations from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Pasay City to the Clark International Airport (CIA) in Pampanga.

Villafuerte, in a statement over the weekend, said the move will severely hurt domestic tourism and inconvenience air travelers and tourists going to and from the affected regions.

The National Unity Party (NUP) president directed his plea to President Marcos and newly-installed Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Vince Dizon.

He noted that turboprop aircraft Bombardiers and ATRs are the only ones being used by the budget carriers of leading airlines Cebu Pacific Air (CebuPac) and Philippine Airlines (PAL) for commercial flights in secondary airports like that in Naga City, Camarines Sur.

For Villafuerte, the DOTr should hold off on the turboprop transfer until such time that the government can undertake the long-planned expansion of runways such as the one at the Naga City Airport so that these airfields can accommodate bigger planes.

 

“We are making this appeal to President Marcos and Secretary Vince [Dizon] of the DOTr to hold in abeyance this move by the MSCC to decongest the NAIA by gradually moving out all commercial turboprop operations from the country’s premier gateway to the Clark Airport,” Villafuerte, a former provincial governor, said.

The MIAA is the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) while the MSCC refers to the Manila Slot Coordination Committee (MSCC), which comprises the DOTr Undersecretary for Aviation and Airports; the heads of the MIAA, Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP); and the general manager of the New NAIA Infra Corp. (NNIC), which is the consortium led by San Miguel Holdings Corp. (SMHC) that took over control of the NAIA following its privatization in September 2024.

 

“It is our hope that this MSCC decision on the gradual transfer of all turboprop operations from the NAIA to the CIA in Pampanga will be put on the back burner until such time that the DOTr can carry out the long-planned expansion of the runways at the Naga airport and other secondary airfields nationwide so they can accommodate bigger aircraft like the Airbus 300 jets in place of the would-be banned turboprops,” Villafuerte added.   

 

“The airport upgrades must happen ASAP so secondary airfields can have room for bigger aircraft or jets because, in the case of the Naga Airport, for example, the transfer plan will mean that travelers and tourists will first have to go to Clark, whichis 80 kilometers (km) north of Manila, for the commercial turboprop flight to Naga City or just travel by land for the 380-km trip from Manila to Bicol that will take more than 10 hours,” he explained. 

 

Villafuerte pointed out that Naga Airport''s expansion had long been approved.

 

Dizon, who was president-CEO of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) during the previous Duterte administration, was appointed DOTr secretary last month, following the resignation of Secretary Jaime Bautista for health reasons. 

 

“The options for travellers or tourists under the MSCC turboprop phaseout plan—traveling by plane via Clark to Naga with a land trip from Manila to Pampanga or taking a single but long commute by land from Manila to Naga—may seem like a choice between a rock and a hard place, and would naturally hurt tourism in the region, especially in our province of CamSur that is the leading tourist destination and tourism revenue earner in Bicol,” said Villafuerte.

 

“The transfers will mean far longer travel time and additional transport expenses for those wishing to go to Naga and CamSur. Or tourists may just opt to go to Legazpi instead or to other places outside the national capital that have flights taking off from the NAIA,” he added.

 

The veteran solon said that the airport upgrade in Naga “should have happened yesterday, given that the expansion of the airport runway has been in the pipeline on the watch of then-DOTr secretary Arthur Tugade under the previous Duterte Administration and even at the start of ex-Secretary Bautista’s term as transport secretary under the Marcos presidency".

He said that the airport upgrades are in sync with President Marcos' recently renewed commitment to modernize and expand the country’s air transport infrastructure as a way to improve global and domestic connectivity leading to greater opportunities for Filipinos.

 

Related Tags

Clark International Airport DOTR Vince Dizon Ninoy Aquino International Airport lray villafuerte
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