Just a matter of time

Even with the impending increase in passenger service charges next year at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), Philippine rates are still going to be lower compared to other international gateways.

These charges will go up next year pursuant to an administrative order issued by the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) from P550 to P950 for international departing passengers and from P200 to P390 for domestic ones.

The increase will be implemented by the New NAIA Infrastructure Corp. (NNIC) which took over NAIA’s operation and maintenance from MIAA.

The fees will be adjusted again in the sixth and 11th years of the 15-year concession period. If the period is extended by another 10 years, adjustments will be made further on the 16th and 21st year.

A report from Singapore’s The Strait Times showed that the P950 ($22 SGD) rate for international-bound passengers departing from NAIA is still significantly lower compared to the $59 SGD at the Hong Kong International Airport for long-haul economy class passengers and $47 SGD for short haul passengers.

The rate for departing passengers in Changi Airport in Singapore is currently at $65.20 SGD and this will increase to $79.20 SGD by April 2030.

Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok charges its passengers $30 SGD while Incheon Airport Seoul’s rate is $24 SGD. The charge, meanwhile, for passengers departing from Dubai International Airport is $45 SGD while Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport is currently charging $105 SGD, the same report showed.

The increased fees at NAIA are part of the fee hikes mandated by the Department of Transportation and MIAA under the Asian Development Bank-approved concession agreement.

Whoever won the bidding to operate and maintain NAIA will have to impose these increased charges. So those blaming NNIC for the increase do not know what they are saying.

According to Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista, the last time that NAIA revised its fees was some 24 years ago.

A consortium led by San Miguel Corp. last February won the bidding for the P170.6-billion NAIA rehabilitation project when it proposed the highest share by government of the revenues from NAIA’s operations at a whopping 82.16 percent. The GMR consortium proposed a government share of 33.3 percent and the Manila International Airport Consortium, 25.9 percent.

NNIC, the private sector operator of NAIA, recently reported strong operational performance throughout the recent Undas peak travel period.

Aside from handling record volumes of passengers and flights, NNIC also achieved a notable 87.99 percent on-time performance for arriving flights, surpassing the industry standard of about 80 percent, less than two months after taking the reigns at the 76-year-old airport.

In the coming months, it will implement infrastructure and system upgrades across NAIA to further improve efficiency, streamline passenger flow and enhance the travel experience.

In short, what has not been achieved by government when it was managing NAIA can now happen under private sector management.

For one, NNIC is closely working with the Bureau of Immigration on biometric system upgrades and is collaborating with airline companies to support investments in additional baggage handling and workforce enhancements.

There is an urgent need to upgrade NAIA’s aging infrastructure and since taking over management last Sept. 14, NNIC has been working to modernize the airport facilities and critical systems. According to NNIC, a top priority is the replacement of the 20-year-old baggage handling system at Terminal 3, and so it has already procured a new, advanced explosive detection system for baggage handling to be installed in July 2025.

While the MIAA board has spent P700 million in 2020 to refurbish the Terminal 1 baggage conveyor belt and P620 million for T2’s, no upgrade has been done for T3’s system since it opened in 2003.

It was literally a ticking time bomb. Thus what happened last Oct. 20 when the T3 baggage handling system broke down leaving over 800 pieces of luggage stranded at the terminal did not come as a surprise.

There may be other aging facilities that are bound to malfunction in the coming months and NAIA’s upgrade and modernization is long overdue. But we take comfort in the knowledge that our premier gateway is in good hands and that an eventual complete turnaround for NAIA – from being one of the worst airports in the world and a source of embarrassment to being one that is a source of pride for the nation – has become a certainty.

Election hotbed

Residents of Las Piñas City are highly anticipating the 2025 midterm elections especially with the city’s two political clans battling it out.

But even before the filing period, Las Piñas City mayor Imelda Aguilar and her daughter vice mayor April Aguilar-Nery announced that they are leaving the Nacionalista Party, headed by former Senate president Manny Villar who is married to incumbent Sen. Cynthia Villar, the sister of Imelda’s late husband Nene Aguilar. The Villars and Aguilar have been together in one political umbrella for the past three decades.

Then there is 1st district councilor Mark Anthony Santos who is running against Cynthia for a congressional seat.

Mayor Imelda is running for vice mayor next year while her daughter April will be pitted against her cousin Carlo Aguilar for city mayor. Carlo is said to have the support of the Villars.

Cynthia’s daughter Camille, currently a member of the House of Representatives, is of course running for a Senate seat.

Santos and the rest of the city government are reportedly still trying to collect from the Villars unpaid taxes of more than P70 million. Sen. Cynthia earlier said there were errors in the names of the taxpayers as well as the market value. The Villars, who have so far paid P151 million of their unpaid accumulated real property tax obligations to the city, are in discussions with Mayor Mel.

Should other taxes remain outstanding, Sen. Cynthia earlier said they would be more than willing to settle their obligations.

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