The Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) will seek from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) an exemption from the ban on construction projects so it could start the P150-million expansion project of the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) by April.

Victor Jose Luciano, CIAC president and chief executive officer the rehabilitation and expansion of the DMIA passenger terminal I are expected to be finished later this year.

Luciano said CIAC is sticking to this target and has written its parent firm, the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA), for it to make a representation with Comelec for the exemption.

"We asked for the general exemption of the infrastructure of the corporations under BCDA. Construction will start in May and we expect to finish it either late October or early November," he said.

The expansion involves civil works amounting to P68 million and upgrade of equipment for DMIA amounting to P82 million for a total of P150 million.

"We will add another 1 million to the capacity of the airport. The present capacity is only 1 million and we have already exceeded half a million in actual passengers. And the first two months of the year were very promising," he said.

Luciano claimed passenger volume in January grew 50 percent compared to January last year.

He added that for 2006, the airport registered more than 470,000 for international passengers and including domestic, it posted half a million, or a 110 percent higher than 2005.

Bidding for the construction of the airport was held in January but CIAC is rebidding the contract after it discovered that the winning bidder lacked necessary documents. Six parties joined the prequalification proceedings last week.

Six international carriers serve the DMIA such as Asiana Airlines of South Korea, Hong Kong Airlines (Hong Kong), Tiger Airways (Singapore), Air Asia (Malaysia), Shanghai Air (China, chartered service), Far Eastern Transport Corp. (Taiwan) – and soon, Viva Macau (Macau), Thai Air Asia (Thailand), and Tair Airlines (Saudi Arabia). Southeast Asian Airlines and Asian Spirit use Clark as its hubs.

CIAC manages the Clark Aviation Complex sitting on 2,500 hectares. It has a 3,200-meter runway and taxiways designed to accommodate big aircraft, aircraft parking apron, a passenger terminal building, and related facilities.

Meanwhile, the Joint Foreign Chambers (JFC) has expressed support for the development of the DMIA as one of the premier airports in the Philippines and a regional air transport and logistics hub.

In a position paper, JFC said the government policy to create a stable, progressive environment for growth and investment at Clark is just beginning to yield positive results in passenger and cargo service at the former United States Air Force base.

The JFC said that in 2006, nearly 500,000 passengers arrived at the DMIA, an increase of more than 110 percent from 225,000 passengers in 2005.

It added that flights from Asiana Airlines, Air Asia, Hong Kong Airways and Tiger Airways transport increasing numbers of tourists and businessmen from Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia and Singapore to the Philippines.

In cargo, JFC said American carrier UPS has made DMIA its main intra-Asian hub, linking Clark and major Asian cities with the global operation hubs of UPS in Louisville, Kentucky in the US and in Cologne, Germany.

The group added that the opening late this year of the Subic-Clark-Tarlac expressway will provide exporters at the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority and in Tarlac with improved access to DMIA.