CLARK FIELD, Pampanga—At least 13 commercial aircraft, including 10 owned by Taiwanese carriers, sought refuge at the Clark International Airport in Pampanga at the height of Typhoon Butchoy, a Clark International Airport Corp. (Ciac) official said on Saturday.
The 10 Taiwanese commercial planes were diverted to Clark on Thursday afternoon, while the three others sought shelter at the same airport on Friday.
Ding Aranas, manager of the Ciac Terminal Operations Department, said the Taiwanese planes were TransAsia Airways Airbus A320 and A321, three ATR72s, Mandarin Airlines A320, two ERJ190s and two TigerAir Taiwan A320s. On Friday three more commercial aircraft arrived at Clark owing to bad weather in Manila: an AirAsia Airbus 320 from Mactan-Cebu, Cebu Pacific Air A320 from Bacolod and Asiana Airlines from Incheon, the Ciac said.
The Duterte administration earlier expressed intention to push for more domestic flights at Clark. The Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay City is plagued by flight delays and passenger congestion.
The only regular local flight at Clark is the Cebu-Clark flight of Cebu Pacific.
Aranas said the planes arrived at the Clark Airport to escape from the fury of the typhoon, which battered parts of Taiwan on Friday.
He said Clark Airport can accommodate aircraft from foreign countries for emergency purposes. Clark Airport has a wide parking space for airplanes.
Aranas said Clark Airport “is always ready, especially during times of ca-lamity, to assist airlines for their diversion and evacuation.”
The Clark Civil Aviation Complex is at least 2,367 hectares located inside the Clark Freeport Zone. The airport has a 3.2-kilometer parallel runway built by the US Air Force, which pulled out in 1991 owing to the termination of the RP-US Bases Agreement and the subsequent eruption of Mount Pinatubo in June 1991.
Image credits: Jojo Due