This will include the construction of a bigger passenger terminal as well as the development of a high-speed railway system that will cut travel time between the former US military base and Manila to a half-hour train ride from a two-hour drive today.
Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) president and CEO Victor Luciano said Pangilinan paid a visit to the DMIA on the first working day of the New Year.
“During his visit, we apprised him of the developments and the coming of new airlines, creating Clark as a hub,” Luciano said.
Aside from being the chairman of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., Pangilinan also manages several interests of Hong Kong’s First Pacific Co. Ltd. in the Philippines.
These include investments in infrastructure, healthcare and power distribution and generation, all through First Pacific unit Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC).
Pangilinan had said that a better airport in Clark would be ideal to decongest Manila’s terminals. However, there is a need for a high-speed railway system to bridge the 60-kilometer gap between Clark and the country’s capital to make investing in the new airport financially viable.
“Growth here could be exponential in the next three to five years especially that there are companies looking at Clark to make this a hub. That would provide the numbers that he needs to put up a rail system in Clark. He was very positive about it,” Luciano said.
He added that Pangilinan was looking for foreign groups and international airport operators to assist in the project.
“[Pangilinan] said he would be sending a study team here real soon,” Luciano said.—Paolo G. Montecillo
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