By Patrizia Paola C. Marcelo

PHILIPPINES AIRASIA, Inc. is planning to return to Clark International Airport by January 2018, its President and Chief Executive Officer Dexter M. Comendador said.

“Initially, we scheduled it for around November or December… But there was a delayed delivery of the Airbus units, so it was moved to January,” Mr. Comendador said, referring to two Airbus 320 units, in an interview on Monday.

AirAsia started its Philippine operations in Clark, Pampanga in 2012. In 2013, it moved its hub to Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 4 in line with reduced operations. It has since resumed domestic flights from Clark to Davao and Kalibo, but Manila remains its main hub.

“It’s going to be a primary base for us. We were born in Clark, we will come back,” Mr. Comendador added. “It’s useless to compete with PAL (Philippine Airlines), Cebu Pacific here… The (Manila) runway is very limited, and it has reached its peak capacity.”

The return to Clark comes ahead of the budget carrier’s plan to have 70 planes in 10 to 15 years. Mr. Comendador said AirAsia is looking to prioritize flights with high utilization in Clark, particularly flights to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia; Hong Kong; and Singapore.

ANTI-HUMAN TRAFFICKING EFFORTS
AirAsia Foundation kicked off its anti-human trafficking initiative road show in Manila earlier this week, as part of its efforts to combat the global problem.

The budget airline will start training its front line personnel, such as cabin crew and ground attendants to recognize signs of human trafficking in passengers and to communicate possible cases to proper authorities.

“We’ve been receiving reports from the media and NGO workers that many people are being trafficked, and using our airlines,” Yap Mun Ching, executive director of AirAsia Foundation, told reporters.

AirAsia Foundation worked with US-based nongovernment organization (NGO) Airline Ambassadors International (AAI) to find out how United States carriers are tackling this problem. The initiative also received funding support from the US Department of State.

Ms. Yap cited a United Nations report showed 25% of persons trafficked in the world are from Southeast Asia.

The Philippines is also the only ASEAN country included in the Tier 1 category in the 2017 US State Department Trafficking in Persons Report. Being under the Tier 1 category means the government acknowledges the existence of human trafficking, has made efforts to address the problem, and complies with the minimum standards of the US legislation, Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000.

“We feel that if we’re going to do something in ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), we need to share best practices in the region and Philippines is the leader,” Ms. Yap said.

Nancy Rivard, AAI president and a retired crew member from American Airlines who has provided anti-trafficking training for airlines around the world, said more traffickers are using commercial airlines, including budget carriers, to easily move trafficking victims to “keep them powerless.”

Ms. Rivard said moving victims across countries is a strategy to further trap the victims in their situations, as they are without a support network and unfamiliar with the language and culture. Having illegal status in these countries where they did not obtain license to work also makes them afraid to go to law enforcement authorities.

Ms. Yap said that after the training of airline personnel, they will be coordinating with airport and immigration authorities in the Philippines to promote cooperation, as well as launching public awareness campaigns.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR