Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista on Monday, 8 January, commended the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) personnel on the success of the recently concluded "Oplan Biyaheng Ayos: Pasko 2023" in the annual New Year's call of CAAP.

The Transport chief reported an increase in the number of flights in 2023, reaching 280,000 compared to the pre-pandemic period with 250,000 flights, signifying more passengers are now relying on air transport.

Moreover, Bautista recognized the effort of CAAP to increase the movement per hour of airplanes, as this will provide significant support for one of the most important projects of the government this year—the privatization of the operations and maintenance of Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

The objective is to increase aircraft movement per hour from the current 40 to the range of 44 to 48 in order to meet the volume of passengers and flights at NAIA if it is expanded, with the passenger capacity doubling from the present 32 million per year.

"CAAP will play a very important role in making these projects successful. CAAP has been requested to improve the air traffic movement per hour. Of course, it's a big task to have movements per hour up to 40, which never happened in the past. I believe that there are instances where we are able to do that already during selected hours," Bautista said.

Meanwhile, CAAP chief, Captain Manuel Tamayo, issued directives for CAAP personnel to be proactive in preparing for events this year, especially as the Philippines is scheduled to host the Directors General of Civil Aviation for the Asia and Pacific Regions with approximately 400 international delegates, including representatives from the US, China, and Singapore, expected in Cebu this October.