CLARK FREEPORT - Korean Airways announced Sunday that more commercial flights will be expected to start the daily operation at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA).
Prior to this, Clark International Airport Corporation (CIAC) President and Chief Executive Officer Victor Jose I. Luciano met with the executives of Jin Air, one of the biggest commercial airlines expected to operate daily between Clark and Seoul beginning Oct. 31, 2010.
Luciano said South Korea's Jin Air, a subsidiary of Korean Airways, is a budget airline and is expected to increase passenger traffic at the DMIA which is now nearing the annual 700,000 mark.
''We are expecting more passengers with the entry of Jin Air which is a budget airline. Now Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) can go home as often as they want because of the cheap fares,'' Luciano said.
Aside from the Jin Air, he also announced the deal with South Korea's Air Busan that will fly between Clark and Busan; Middle Eastern carrier RAK Airways that will fly between Clark and the United Arab Emirates via India; and Helenik of Greece.
He said the airliners will be using Boeing 757-200s in their operations at the DMIA in the freeport. CIAC, the operating arm of DMIA has already infused P338 million for the expansion of Terminal 1, increasing passenger capacity to 2.7 million annually, Luciano said.
Likewise, the existing two-storey DMIA Terminal 1 has two Aero Bridges, Flight Information Display, Close Circuit Television, Background Music, Public Address System, X-Ray Machines, Escalators and Elevators.
The expansion also paved the way for the installation of additional immigration counters, airlines offices, concessionaires' area, and five airline ticketing offices, baggage conveyors and among others.
Other carriers at DMIA include Tiger Airways of Singapore that flies Clark-Singapore, Air Asia of Malaysia via Clark-Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu, Asiana Airlines via Clark-Incheon in South Korea with connecting flights to the US, China and Japan, Cebu Pacific Air via Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok and Macau while South East Asian Airlines (Seair) via Clark-Caticlan at the world famous Boracay Beach Island Resort.
