The Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) continues to attract more passengers as the airport posted a 21-percent increase in international passenger volume in the first five months of 2009 amid a downturn in the aviation industry caused by the global economic slowdown. 
Clark International Airport Corporation (CIAC) President and CEO Victor Jose I. Luciano made the announcement during the eight leg of the 2009 DMIA Product Update held at the CAP-John Hay Trade and Cultural Center in Camp John Hay, Baguio City on June 30.
Luciano said the DMIA posted a 21-percent increase in international passenger volume from the period January to May this year compared to the figures posted in 2008 in the same period.
Based on a report of the CIAC Corporate Planning Department, 251,719 international passengers passed through the DMIA from January to May this year compared to 208,858 in the same period in 2008 or a difference of 42,861 passengers.
The report showed a significant increase in passenger volume in January alone with 53,068 passengers compared to the 41,944 in January 2008, or an increase of 27 percent, proving the DMIA is one of the busiest airports in the country.
“I am happy to report to you that despite a 16-percent slump in the entire aviation industry in the Asia Pacific Region in the first five months of 2009 caused by the global economic recession and more recently the A (H1N1), the DMIA posted a 21-percent growth over the said period,” Luciano told some 200 participants of the DMIA Baguio product update.
Luciano stressed the DMIA, being the future premier international gateway of the Philippines, remains strong and continues to attract passengers and that “the CIAC Road Show is a big boost to the thrusts to promote the flights at Clark, especially in the Northern Luzon area.”
“We are here to invite you, the leaders of the travel agencies, the hotel industry, the chambers of commerce, the Rotary Club and the Jaycees, among others, to come to and fly in and out of Clark,” he said.
“We want Baguio to be the focal point of the growth of DMIA. People of Northern Luzon, Baguio and Central Luzon, this is your airport. Clark is your airport,” Luciano said.
Prior to the Baguio product update, the DMIA road show had been held in the provinces of Pampanga, Bataan, Bulacan, Zambales, Tarlac and Nueva Ecija in Central Luzon and the Northern Luzon provinces of Pangasinan, Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur.
The DMIA is currently host to foreign and local airlines such as Tiger Airways that flies to Singapore; Air Asia that flies to Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia; Asiana Airlines that flies to Incheon, South Korea with connecting flights of the US, China and Japan; and, local carrier Cebu Pacific Air that flies from Clark to Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau and Bangkok as well as domestically to Cebu daily. Meanwhile, South East Asian Airlines (Seair) and Zest Air both fly Caticlan for tourists wanting to visit the world-famous Boracay Beach.