manilamail/archive/oct2013/13oct06.html POSTSCRIPT/ PhilSTAR/ Oct. 6, 2013/ Sunday By Federico D. Pascual Jr. Plunder raps meant only for shock effect? FOLLOW ME: For readers who have not joined the fast-clip 140-characters-only exchange on Twitter, here are a few of my own (@FDPascual) recent tweets on public issues: « After last night’s Ayala Avenue rally, it was suggested that the place be renamed Plaza Dilaw. What do you think? « Good Read from AlexMagno - In 2011 robust economy faltered after AquinoAdmin force-saved P72B to create DAP pork. tinyurl/qddxxy3 « There should be some way of stopping Lozano-type impeachment raps designed to block later legitimate complaints. « Those hurriedly prepared plunder charges are like stun bombs. The blast may cause momentary distraction but won’t kill the targets. « Why rule out gov’t-to-gov’t MRT deals if they could be cheaper & more advantageous than bids of private groups? « Those who can’t accept Binay won’t back an Oust-PNoy move. Ousters have to produce a White Knight, not a Dark Horse. « Nakakainggeeet! Americans are lucky they can SHUT DOWN their government! « JOKE OF THE DAY!: “You can’t bribe a senator,” says Recto. >Ask Drilon! « Shifting Scenario: Without Pork Barrel it may be hard for PNoy to convince congressmen to block his impeachment, if it comes to that. * * * MIDEAST SERVICE: The Clark Freeport community is excited over the Oct. 1 opening of direct Dubai-Clark-Dubai daily service of Emirates Airlines to be followed on Oct. 28 by direct Doha-Clark-Doha daily flights of Qatar Airways. The double-barrel service for Overseas Filipino Workers in the Middle East, estimated at 1.5 million, can snatch business from other airlines flying out of Manila that still have to lure OFWs from Central and Northern Luzon who are conveniently nearer to Clark. Clark Development Corp. president/CEO Arthur Tugade welcomed a report of the Clark International Airport Corp. that upgrading of the passenger terminal building scheduled to be completed by 2014, has been advanced by six months to December this year. CIAC president/CEO Victor Jose I. Luciano told us Thursday that the terminal upgrade costing P418 million will help boost the airport’s capacity by five million passengers annually. * * * CLARK, RIGHT HERE!: Instead of motoring all the way to Manila, OFWs from Central and Northern Luzon bound for the Middle East can cut expenses and avail themselves of Clark’s daily flight service. A growing number of departing and returning workers spend more time with their usual “hatid” crowd of family and friends in the stress-free ambience of the Clark Freezone. Philippines Emirates country manager Gigie Baroa said that there are about 680,000 OFWs in Saudi Arabia, 150,000 in the United Arabia Emirates, and 150,000 in Bahrain. She estimated that Emirates will bring one million passengers for their Clark operations. Emirates uses a Boeing 777-ER300 aircraft in the Dubai-Clark-Dubai daily route with a capacity of 428 passengers. Its entry will be followed on Oct. 28 by Qatar Airways’ daily Doha-Clark-Doha flights using Airbus 330’s with capacity of 305 passengers. Emirates, recently awarded “World’s Best Airline” by Skytrax, has a fleet of more than 200 aircraft logging over 3,000 flights per week from its hub in Terminal 3 at Dubai International Airport to 132 cities in 74 countries. * * * UPGRADING: “The selection of Clark as a destination by Emirates is a giant leap forward for us considering that hundreds of cities all over the world had been inviting Emirates,” Luciano said. “Clark will endeavour to attract more Europeans and Arabs to visit the Philippines.” The new terminal features 34 new counters, 27 airline offices, 10 flight information display systems (FIDS), two baggage conveyors, closed circuit television, background music and public address, structured cabling, fire protection system, building management , and air-conditioning and air distribution system. Guesting at the breakfast Balitaan of the Capampangan in Media Inc. (CAMI) at its Bale Balita (House of News) in Clark, CIAC vice president for airport operations Reynaldo Catacutan said aside from the P418-milion terminal upgrading, there will be other major projects costing P886.78 million. He said a new two-finger passenger boarding bridge costing P109.25 million will replace next year one of the existing boarding bridges. A new double security fence running 25 kilometers around the airport with an intrusion detection system will cost P400 million. * * * OPERATIONS: Among the budget airlines operating at Clark are Air Asia Berhad of Malaysia, Cebu Pacific Air, Tiger Air Philippines (formerly Seair), and Jin Air, a subsidiary of Korean Air of South Korea. Full service airlines include Asiana Airlines of South Korea and Dragonair of Cathay Pacific. In January 2013, CIAC also opened its first off-airport lounge at the Trinoma mall in Quezon City for passengers taking their flights to Clark. The lounge is open 24 hours from where a Genesis bus will transport passengers to the airport for P200 per head. Clark (CRK) has an ISO 9001:2008 Re-Certification Award given by the TUV Rheinland Philippines Inc., under the International Passenger Facilitation and Internal Operating Processes, a first in the history of the aviation company. Last February, Clark won the 2013 Routes Airport Marketing Awards (under-20-million-passengers category) held in Mumbai, India. Over 700 aviation professionals participated in the world renowned airline and airport networking event. Clark also got the nod of the London-based FDI magazine as “Third Best Airport Zone” in the world. It was included in the Top Five Best Airport Zones during its second ranking of the Global Free Zones of the Future 2012/2013 in August last year. * * *
Posted on: Sun, 06 Oct 2013 20:37:41 +0000
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