Nearly completed, a new terminal building is expected to triple Clark International Airport’s annual passenger capacity. OPPOSITE PAGE: Returning OFWs underwent quick and efficient processing in Clark during the lockdown; the airport’s roof design was inspired by the Sierra Madre mountain range.
A SOFT PLACE TO LAND When the COVID-19 pandemic swept the world and halted all air travel, Clark International Airport became a safe haven for stranded passengers and repatriated overseas workers.
By Peejo Pilar and Micah Sulit Photographs by Borj Meneses (CDC Communications Department) and Joseph Pascual
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housands of local and international travelers were stranded in airports across the country when the whole of Luzon was first placed on lockdown on March 17, 2020. Travel by land, air, and sea was severely restricted. Outbound passengers had to fly out of international airports in Luzon within 72 hours, while inbound flights to Manila were rerouted to places like Cebu. Domestic flights were immediately cancelled and international flights followed soon after. Even among passengers who had just landed, many couldn’t get to their home provinces because there were no connecting flights. At Clark International Airport (CRK), some 90 kilometers from Metro Manila, over 200 passengers were stranded for days. Most of them were returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who had no way to go home to their families. Help quickly arrived in the form of Task
Force Clark Safe Haven, a joint initiative by the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), Clark Development Corporation (CDC), Clark International Airport Corporation (CIAC), and LIPAD Corporation, which manages the airport. With support from various government agencies and local authorities in Pampanga, the task force provided the stranded passengers with free food and lodging. The beleaguered travelers were put up in Clark hotels while riding out the lockdown restrictions in their destinations. It wasn’t exactly an ideal summertime vacation, but it was a comfortable stay. “We couldn’t have found a much better place to be stranded,” said Magnolia FernandezYrasuegui, a Davao-based radio station manager who had flown back from the US with her husband. “We thank God it is here in Clark. The amenities are great. The room is comfortable and staying here makes our situation lighter to bear.” Two months after its commercial flights
