The Diosdado Macapagal International Airport aviation complex is a 2,367-hectare area within the Clark Freeport Zone, designated by the Philippine national government as the new Philippine international gateway.
The existing master development plan for the complex identifies zoning areas for various aviation-related industries such as passenger and cargo airline operations, aircraft maintenance and repair, airline support businesses such as ground handling and in-flight catering, airport commercial centers and logistics. Full implementation of the master development plan will transform the complex into an airport city with an ultimate design of 60-80 million passengers per year and a third runway, which will allow simultaneous landing and take-off.
Pursuant to Executive Order 193, Series of 2003 and Executive Order 716, Series of 2008, the Clark International Airport Corporation is mandated to operate, manage and maintain the Clark Civil Aviation Complex and develop the same into a globally competitive international service and logistics center in the Asia-Pacific region.
The aviation complex is set within the resource-rich Central Luzon plains where there is an abundance of skilled manpower and highly trained professionals while to the north of the airport are the homes of more than 30% of the total Overseas Filipino Workers population . Within its immediate environs, the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport has a catchment area with a potential for more than 23 million passengers .
The strategic location of the airport within the heart of the Asia-Pacific region makes it an excellent jump-off point to and from major Asian business centers and its proximity to the Subic Bay Freeport makes it an ideal investment haven for airport-dependent industries such as electronics and manufacturing, just a few of the many reasons why the zone has been identified as part of the mega-logistics hub of the Philippines.
Investors in the aviation complex can avail of Freeport incentives given to qualified locators such as a preferential tax rate of 5% of gross income earned, in lieu of all national and local taxes; tax and duty-free importation; free flow of goods within the Freeport zone; and exemption from the Real Property Tax.