The Philippines' Department of Transportation (DOTr) said that local airlines have agreed to shift their turboprop traffic away from congested Manila Ninoy Aquino International to Manila Sangley, GMA News has reported.

The airlines are expected to sign a formal pledge on June 24. Sangley and Angeles City Clark International will also host all general aviation traffic to the Filipino capital going forward.

"Airlines expressed their willingness and commitment to support the government’s thrust to utilize Sangley Airport. This is a solid demonstration of their trust and confidence in the administration of President Duterte," Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said.

The DOTr also ordered 24/7 construction works at Sangley to allow traffic to relocate by the December deadline. The works started in 2018 and are currently half-complete. The original timeline for Sangley envisaged the opening in March 2020.

According to the ch-aviation schedules module, Cebu Pacific Air's subsidiary Cebgo (DG, Manila Ninoy Aquino International) and AirSWIFT (T6, Manila Ninoy Aquino International) are currently the only airlines deploying turboprops to the main gateway in Manila. The former airline uses ATR72s to operate flights to 10 domestic destinations, while AirSWIFT uses both ATR42-600s and 72-600s to operate flights to El Nido.

PAL Express (2P, Manila Ninoy Aquino International), the regional subsidiary of Philippine Airlines (PR, Manila Ninoy Aquino International), currently operates its Dash 8-400s out of Clark. Philippines AirAsia (Z2, Manila Ninoy Aquino International), the third-largest operator at Manila, does not operate any turboprops, although its CEO Dexter Comendador also attended the meeting with the DOTr.

Sangley is currently a military-only airport and does not see any scheduled commercial traffic. Philippine Airlines previously said that once the airport is open to commercial operations, it will relocate "some" turboprop flights from Clark to Sangley.