The Philippine government is working diligently to double the passenger capacity of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) by increasing the number of aircraft movements.
During the Changi Aviation and Airshow in Singapore on February 18, 2024, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) Director General Manuel Tamayo and Deputy Director General for Administration Danjun Lucas met with Samuel Ng, the chief of the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department, to talk about ways to boost airplane movements per hour at the country's premier airport.
NAIA has a primary runway, Runway 06/24, with a length of 3,737 meters (12,260 feet) and a width of 60 meters (200 feet); while the secondary runway, Runway 13/31 has a length of 2,258 meters (7,408 feet) with a width of 45 meters (148 feet).
"This is CAAP's proactive step to adhere to the Department of Transportation's (DOTr) directive to increase airplane movements at NAIA to 48 per hour considering the infrastructure limitations of the airport," the CAAP management said.
Currently, airplane movements at NAIA are only 40 to 42 slots (landing and takeoff) per hour.
However, CAAP has stated that in order to accommodate the goal of doubling passenger capacity at NAIA and in line with the concession agreement to be executed with the private sector, DOTr wants CAAP to increase flight options.
"We wanted to collaborate if this is achievable and if yes, how and what to do to achieve the goal," Lucas said.
Prior to this, CAAP had already initiated measures to boost airplane movements. Earlier, a group of air traffic controllers, along with a delegation from the DOTr, visited the air traffic facilities at Hong Kong International Airport (which has two runways) to learn from its best practices.
The Hong Kong International Airport, also known as Chek Lap Kok International Airport, can handle 68 aircraft movements per hour.
In response to projected increases in air traffic, a third runway system was developed at the airport.
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