Clark International Airport Corp. said Wednesday it is set to sign an agreement with Aeroports de Paris of France to finance a feasibility study for the proposed budget terminal in the former US airbase.
“Aeroports de Paris will look into it [budget terminal]. We’re signing a memorandum of agreement with the ADP. It will act as the design and consulting company. It is a grant by the ADP,” CIAC president Victor Jose Luciano told reporters Wednesday.
ADP is the airport authority that owns and manages the 14 civil airports and airfields in France.
“If we sign in about a week, they will finish it in three months which include the new design for the budget terminal. So the existing building will become a legacy terminal. If we can construct at the end of 2014, then we can finish by the second quarter of 2016,” Luciano said.
The Transportation Department is also studying plans for the proposed P7.2-billion low cost carrier terminal at the Clark International Airport.
“The government is currently studying the concept of a low-cost carrier terminal at Clark airport, because of its potential as gateway of the country,” Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Aguinaldo Abaya said.
The budget terminal is designed to accommodate 10 million to 15 million passengers annually, once it becomes operational.
Luciano said the LCC terminal would accommodate low-cost carriers which are currently flying out of Clark.
Among these airlines are Cebu Pacific Air, Air Asia Berhad, Jin Air and Tiger Air Philippines. Other long-haul airlines include Asiana Airlines of South Korea and Dragonair of Cathay Pacific.
He also said the P360-million passenger terminal building currently being constructed was expected to be fully completed by December this year, instead of the June 2014 deadline.
The new passenger terminal is designed to accommodate five million passengers annually.
“The way things are going, the construction phase would be completed by December of this year, instead of the June 2014 deadline,” Luciano said.
The CIAC recorded 1.3 million passengers in 2012, up 76.7 percent from year ago.