The lack of airport capacity in Jakarta, Bangkok and Manila has been cited by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in its report on airport infrastructure in the Asia Pacific region.
“Having the infrastructure to grow is vital to our industry’s future. But in many key places, it is not being built fast enough to meet growing demand,” said IATA director-general and CEO, Alexandre de Juniac, in his keynote address to the Singapore Airshow Aviation Leadership Summit.
Referring to airport infrastructure development, De Juniac said there were “worrying trends which are increasing costs”.
“One of these is airport privatisations. We have not found the correct regulatory framework to balance the interests of the investors to turn a profit, with the public interest for the airport to be a catalyst for economic growth.
“All the optimism supporting strong aircraft orders will mean nothing if we don’t have the capability to manage traffic in the air and at airports,” de Juniac added.
Of the three airports causing concern to IATA because of the lack of infrastructure development, Airports of Thailand has said that it plans to pour billions of dollars into upgrading and expanding the six main airports in Thailand over 10 years.
It is predicted that by 2030, Thailand’s six main airports will be able to serve 150 million passengers a year up from 71.5 million in 2016.
Meanwhile, Philippine Airlines has offered to build a new US$400 million terminal to improve passenger service and accommodate an expected rise in the volume of air travel in the coming years.
Jaime Bautista, president of Asia’s oldest airline, said it was willing to take in a partner for the terminal project at Manila’s congested Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), once they get the go-ahead from the government.
In an interview with IATA, Bautista said, “Airport infrastructure is limiting our ability to grow and this is our biggest problem. We want to fly more, but it is difficult to add even one flight during day time at Manila’s international airport.”
Jakarta has launched the first train connecting Soekarno-Hatta International Airport to the city centre – a 55-minute journey that can take double that time when driving through the capital’s congested roads.