Municipal Airport planed for Manila

Title

Language

English

Source

The Marsman Magazine Volume I (No. 9) March 1937

Year

1937

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

THE MARSMAN MAGAZINE [MARCH, 1937 Municipal Airport Planed For Manila The construction of a municipal airport at the end of Dewey Boulevard in Manila is being considered seriously at this time by governmental officials. On March 12 Andres Soriano, William J. Shaw, and Benjamin S. Ohnick, directors of the Philippine Aerial Taxi Company, and other prominent Manila businessmen conferred with Jorge B. Vargas, secretary to President Manuel L. Quezon, and Department officials on the matter. The Patco officials are seeking the cooperation of the GoYernment in the concentration of efforts to advance aviation in the Philippines. It has been pointed out that Manila is the center of aviation in the Far East and should, therefore, have a public airport. An appropriation of P300,000 has been authorized for the proposed airport and more funds have been promised for later release. Already the Government has issued Pl00,000 for landing fields in various other parts of the Islands and P54,000 more will be released for this purpose in the near future. Pan American Airways is taking an active interest in the municipal airport project. Juan P. Trippe, president and general manager of Pan American, stated several months ago that it was planned to have a terminal for the Clipper ships in operation on the site of the proposed municipal airport by the end of June, 1937. Mr. Marsman, who is president of the Philippine Aerial Taxi Company, conferred recently in Washington, D. C. with Mr. Trippe and Albert Plesman, president of the Royal Netherlands Indies Air Line, regarding aviation in the Philippines. It is believed that a regular Manila-to-Batavia passenger and mail service will be inaugurated in the near future while a feeder line to the transPacific service of Pan American Airways within the Islands is more than likely. The trans-Pacific air transport service of Pan American is to be extended to Macao and Hongkong in April. Regular passenger service is expected to start in May. A committee has been formed to consider a possible plan of the Government of taking over temporarily a local flying field in course of construction on the Fort McKinley road. The committee is composed of Major Harvey W. Prosser, chief of the division of aeronautics, department of public works and communications; Benj. S. Ohnick, of the Philippine Aerial Taxi Company; Salvador Araneta, :of the Iloilo-Negros 'Air Express; J. < I . Parker Van Zandt of Pan American Airways; L. R. Nielson and W. H. Pratt, of the· American Far Eastern School of Aeronautics; and A. D. Williams, technical adviser at Malacafian. The bay front project consists of the extension of the present available area at the southern end of Dewey Boulevard by reclaiming some 10 hectares of shoreland facing Fort San Antonio Abad on which to build a modern airport suitable for both airplanes and seaplanes. The whole project completed would cost several million pesos, making the airport probably one of the world's finest. A smaller sum might be sufficient to make the reclaimed area available temporarily for landing purposes. The project was favored when it was presented for the first time during the sessions of the Commonwealth Assembly because it was believed that it offered great conveniences to airline companies operating both land and sea planes and to the general public in view of its proximity to the city.

Media