RPLL/Manila is not moving as quickly towards a complete ban of non-scheduled and General Aviation traffic as feared. This is good news for International Operators.

Background: The airport is heavily congested, it’s a big deal in the Philippines, and the President himself started the action to fix things.

The original plan  was that February 2017 would see all GA traffic moved to other airports (aka RPLC/Clark or RPLB/Subic Bay). For international operators, neither of these are great alternatives. Clark can be a 3 hour drive to Manila, and Subic Bay is further again, with about a 4 hour drive.

However, the original threat of moving everything that isn’t line traffic out of RPLL might have dissipated. The NAIA Airport Company has now introduced some hefty slot restrictions for GA:

• 2 GA movements from 0600-1200 local time
• No GA movements between 1200-1900
• Slots will be assigned only 24 hours in advance for domestic flights
• Slots will be assigned maximum 15 days in advance for international flights

The word on the ground (as of January 25th) from the local handling agents, is that the Airport Authority is evaluating whether this might be a sufficient restriction for GA. It seems that they don’t want to exclude GA or non-scheduled flights entirely. We’ll keep you posted.

The main runway at RPLL/Manila, RWY 06/24, was closed on Monday 18JUL after heavy rain caused large chunks of asphalt to disintegrate. One of the last aircraft to land, shown below, suffered damage to an inboard flap section.

At least 10 flights diverted to Clark International Airport (RPLC/CRK), 50nm northwest of the city.

The runway was tentatively reopened on Tuesday, but consideration to future similar issues should be given, if further rain occurs.