COVID-19

Clark airport operator says old terminal could be a vaccine hub

Aika Rey

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Clark airport operator says old terminal could be a vaccine hub

NEW TERMINAL. Megawide Construction Corporation and Indian partner GMR Infrastructure Ltd hands over the new passenger terminal building of the Clark International Airport to government.

Photo from Department of Transportation

Clark International Airport operator Lipad Corporation says the old terminal can handle 10,000 vaccinees a day

Clark International Airport operator Luzon International Premiere Airport Development (Lipad) Corporation said that the old passenger terminal building could be used as a vaccination hub, as Megawide-GMR Construction Joint Venture handed over the new terminal building to government.

At the handover ceremony on Friday, January 22, Lipad CEO Bi Yong Chungunco said that the firm is offering the old terminal in Pampanga as a mass vaccination facility, as well as its services in making the process seamless and efficient.

“What can be more perfect than having Clark International Airport as a vaccine hub and have the vaccination center right next door?” said Chungunco.

He said the old terminal can handle 10,000 vaccinees a day.

“Imagine vaccines arriving, unloading. In 5 minutes, it will be in a cold storage, controlled temperature from 0 to -20 degrees. And when you need the vaccine, in 5 minutes, it will be in the vaccination center ready to vaccine [people] with minimal logistic requirements,” she said.

The Philippine government is eyeing to start COVID-19 vaccine rollout by end of February when initial doses arrive in the country.

Health officials earlier said the government would prioritize distributing COVID-19 vaccines to priority groups including frontline health workers in high risk areas such as Metro Manila, Calabarzon, Central Luzon, Cebu City, and Davao City. 

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Megawide-GMR completed the new terminal in September 2020.

Once operational, the new terminal is expected to increase the Clark airport passenger volume to around 8 million passengers in the first year of operations from the previous 4.2 million. Total passenger capacity is up to 12.2 million annually.

It is targetted to begin operations in July.

Clark International Airport is managed by Lipad Corporation, a consortium composed of Filinvest Development Corporation, JG Summit Holdings, Philippine Airport Ground Support Solutions, and Changi Airports Philippines.  – Rappler.com

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Aika Rey

Aika Rey is a business reporter for Rappler. She covered the Senate of the Philippines before fully diving into numbers and companies. Got tips? Find her on Twitter at @reyaika or shoot her an email at aika.rey@rappler.com.