New Manila airport terminal to start international flights in August
25/7/2008 16:39
The Philippines' new terminal at its capital airport will start serving
international flights in August, months earlier than initially schedule, media
reports said today.
The Ninoy Aquino International Airport Passenger
Terminal-3, partly opened on Tuesday, could start accommodating flights to and
from the country as early as Aug. 8 this year after local carrier Cebu Pacific
agreed to the move, Philippine newspaper BusinessWorld reported, citing Michael
T. Defensor, head of a government task force in charge of the terminal.
"(The
terminal) can be used for international flights around Aug. 8. They (Cebu
Pacific) said they can use it in August," Defensor was cited in the
report.
Manila International Airport Authority General Manager Alfonso G.
Cusialso also said there is a plan for daily international flights "by the early
part of August."
Next month the terminal will be ready to serve 28 daily
international flights of Cebu Pacific, he said.
The flight destinations
include China's Hong Kong and Macau, Singapore, and Bangkok, according to the
report.
Full operations would be achieved early next year, officials
said.
"Hopefully (the terminal) will be fully operational by February, "
Defensor said.
By this point, the terminal will be able to accommodate as
much as 140 international and 220 domestic flights a day, he added.
"We are
talking to other foreign airlines. They said they need six to eight months
before they can move in. They said they would have to organize their offices,"
Cusi said.
Earlier, officials said the new terminal would be open for
international flights in six to nine months.
President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo inspected the facility there yesterday and called the terminal
the "gateway to our country from the rest of the world."
"This is our
showcase for tourism and economic progress. Today' s commercial opening is a
result of our resolve and determination to move this nation forward," she
said.
Terminal 3, whose construction started 11 years ago and ended in 2006
at a cost of 3 billion pesos (some US$67 million) , is one of the most
controversial projects the Philippine government has gotten involved in. Legal
battles and red tape, as well as technical and safety concerns, have delayed the
opening several times.
Xinhua
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