Airline traffic key to Clark’s Success

Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) the country’s second premier gateway after the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) is experiencing an air traffic boom, an indication that business is thriving in the central region of Luzon.

Victor Jose I. Luciano, president of Clark International Airport Corporation (CIAC) attributes the success of DMIA, which is under the CIAC, and Angeles City, in general, with the influx of big-ticket investor and tourists into Clark.

Luciano who has been responsible to convert the military airport into a hub of budget airlines through CIAC has effectively lured several airlines into making DMIA their regular destination in the Philippines.

Luciano started with CIAC as its president in September. 2006 but he’s been with Clark Development Corp. as its executive vice president since June, 2001. One of his main functions was in aviation.

His main task may sound as simple as bringing the planes back in Clark but looking back, it was as close to impossible. Why would people want to do business in an abandoned airport?

“We took over moribund airport. It was dormant for more than a decade, from 1990 since the Mount Pinatubo eruption until late 2001. Pero sayang, because the infrastructure was already there. We’ve learned there were potential investor but all of them didn’t continue. Puro maiden flights,” he recalls.

Before the Americans left it, they already made it as the only airport outside continental US that can land a space shuttle. Luciano, being a marketing person knew what he was talking about. His experience with the private sector as manager for Asiana Airlines, a Korean company, was very helpful.

First to come in, Luciano recalls, was the United Parcel Services (UPS), which made its maiden flights in 2002. Since then, UPS has Clark its inter-Asia hub. Packages from Europe and the US are being sorted out in Clark for distribution in nearby Asian countries.

As a former Asiana executive, Luciano was also instrument in luring in his former employer to make DMIA their base in the country.

“Even though I came from them, it wasn’t that easy. Korean-based Asiana Airlines already had in NAIA. I travelled back and forth to Seoul and personally talked with the top executive. I brought the here and showed them our tourism potential. I let them play golf in Clark and even in Hacienda Luisita. They were thrilled,” he recounts.

From charter flight twice a week, it became daily until 11 times a week. The volume of Korean tourist increased as months go by. “They were initially avid golfers who eventually brought in their family for long vacations, especially during winter. Soon, bigger planes were needed. Koreans came in not only as tourist but investor, student and many as permanent residents. The revenue of Angeles City also doubled.

More than that, Asiana Airlines’ business, according to Luciano, grew because of the Philippine market.

“When I was with them, it was a raising airline. Now it’s the second flag carrier in Korea. Here in the Philippines, after 16 years of operation, in terms of international volume it’s probably the second to Cathay Pacific. Ang laki rin ng transformation nya,” Luciano recounts.

About 90 percent of Asiana’s passengers are Koreans. Filipinos and other passengers can go to the US and other major destination from Clark and vice-versa though Asiana Airlines with no worries of diverted flights.

With the planes coming in – both commercial and industrial – business is thriving in the once ghostly Clark which was almost inundated by the eruption of Mount Pinatubo. Now there are more than 300 companies/locators based inside the Clark Freeport zone, many from business processing and outsourcing (BPOs) firms to tourism and aviation.

Of late, DMIA proved to be the best choice for diverted flights from NAIA 1, 2 and 3 when there’s bad weather.

Luciano has more plans for CIAC. One, he hopes that more airline companies, the flag carries, will make DMIA their base in Asia.

“We have a bigger airport and the rates here, as we all know, are more affordable than in Manila. Because of new innovations like SCTEX and NLEX, travel time to and from Clark is faster and easier now. More import, because of less or no air pollution at all to speak of, the skies in Clark are much, much cleaner. What more can you ask for?” Luciano says.