Airline executives were caught off guard when President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. warned that Philippine carriers may be forced to cut flights—or even ground planes—due to a possible jet fuel shortage tied to the escalating U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran.
Food, not fuel, may prove the first and most immediate casualty of the Middle East conflict as disruption grips the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow sea lane with an outsized role in feeding the world.
If you want to understand the Philippines, resist the temptation to start with its strongmen and their statues. Begin instead with its women, the quiet architects of its revolutions, the steady hands at the tiller when storms arrive.
At Ninoy Aquino International Airport, the runway is not the only thing shifting. Airlines are now studying a government proposal to redraw the airport map itself, clustering carriers by business model in a sweeping terminal realignment.