President Rodrigo Duterte earlier said he wanted the Sangley Airport to be operational by November this year. The main aim of this move is to decongest the country's main airport, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia).
Sangley will be revamped for domestic flights while NAIA continues receiving international flights. This step will allow the country's commercial aviation sector in general to benefit a lot. NAIA will gain additional slots for international flights to meet the demand of the growing number of tourist arrivals.
Yet converting Sangley into a commercial airport does puts forward some challenges. Sangley Air Base is only good for daytime operations in Visual Meteorological Conditions (VMC) because of the lack of runway lighting what means that no after dark flights can be operated from there. In case of poor visibility flights will be bound to divert to Ninoy or other airports. Also, a reliable and efficient ground or water transport between NAIA and Sangley should be organised. Currently, Sangley airport does not have any terminals or facilities to handle the volume of domestic passengers.
The representatives of the three leading airlines declared they support efforts of the government to relocate domestic flights to Sangley as well as to improve NAIA, and will work with the government to achieve this.
Stangly to Help Decongest Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Philippines
News in Asia
Philippine Airlines (PAL), Cebu Pacific (CEB) and AirAsia Philippines join hands in their support of the government plan that mules the use the Sangley airport for general aviation and domestic flights.