DOTr, MIAA ask local carriers to reduce flights

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) have asked local carriers to lessen the number of their flights to address the problem of flight cancellations.

“Overbooking is not the issue here. Flights are canceled because there is a red lightning alert. That is the problem and it just disrupts the operation of a pre-existing congested airport,” Transportation Undersecretary Roberto Lim yesterday said in a radio and TV interview.

MIAA officer-in-charge Bryan Anderson Co, on the other hand, said that the authority urged the airlines to mount a schedule that they can support in terms of the number of their aircraft.

One of the solutions being advised by MIAA is to move some flights to the evening or past midnight.

In response, Philippine Airlines spokesperson Cielo Villaluna said “Philippine Airlines has reduced flights to improve schedule reliability, on-time performance and, most importantly, to ensure operational flexibility.”

Cebu Pacific spokesperson Carmina Romero meanwhile said in a text message, “Given the sudden unprecedented number of grounded aircraft, some of which will be out of service for a considerable amount of time, we have reduced our flight schedule to account for the long-term unserviceable aircraft and enable more standby aircraft on the day.”

More BI counters

The MIAA said there are now 44 immigration counters at the departure area of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 from the original 26 counters.

As more international flights were transferred to Terminal 3, the number of immigration counters increased to 36, and hopefully this week they will be able to have 44 counters.

MIAA will also construct an immigration annex that will create another 24 counters at Terminal 3 by the end of the year to make it easier for passengers to queue at immigration.

Immigration spokesperson Dana Sandoval said that as of yesterday, 42 working immigration officers are stationed in counters serving departing passengers at Terminal 3.

MIAA also set up last Tuesday pure fiber internet connectivity at NAIA Terminal 4 so passengers can enjoy 120 minutes of high speed internet access.

Terminal 4 is the first terminal to be powered up and Converge plans to extend coverage to other terminals soon, MIAA said.

AirAsia to T1

MIAA is also considering the transfer of AirAsia Philippines’ international flights to NAIA Terminal 1 from Terminal 3, but after the coming “peak” season.

According to Co, MIAA is studying with AirAsia how they can fine-tune their schedules to identify several foreign carriers willing to swap from Terminal 1 to Terminal 3.

He made the statement after the MIAA implemented over the weekend the final stage of its Schedule and Terminal Assignment Rationalization program, which involved the transfer of AirAsia’s domestic flights to Terminal 2 from Terminal 4.

AirAsia previously pointed out the distance between Terminals 2 and 3, which is a challenge for the carrier as some of its international and domestic flights share the same aircraft. Its international flights remain at Terminal 3.

AirAsia’s corporate communication and public affairs chief Steve Dailisan said they are willing to transfer their international flights to Terminal 1.

Increase

This year, NAIA has seen a consistent increase in passenger volume, reaching a pre-pandemic peak of 47.9 million passengers in 2019.

This exceeds its declared capacity of 31 million passengers per annum.

The country posted last April its biggest number of international and domestic air travelers since the 2020 pandemic lockdown, with NAIA alone reporting 1,677,779 international passengers and 9,089 international flights.

Latest data provided by the BI, NAIA Terminal 1 experienced a remarkable increase in daily average international travelers since June 16, 2023. The terminal recorded 28,956 passengers per day, marking a significant 48.1 percent rise from the previous average of 19,553 passengers prior to the transfer.

Similarly, NAIA Terminal 3 also noted a substantial surge in international passenger traffic. With a daily average of 33,682 travelers since June 16, Terminal 3 witnessed an increase of 19.58 percent from the pre-transfer average of 28,168 passengers.

Terminal 3 operations recorded a daily departure of almost 17,000 passengers and a daily arrival of around 16,000 passengers with an increase of more than 1,100 departing and 1,500 arriving passengers.

Meanwhile, the Philippine State College of Aeronautics (PhilSCA) and the World Citi Colleges (WCC) recently signed a memorandum of agreement with Canada’s British Columbia Institute of Technology for the implementation of a joint program in aircraft maintenance technology as part of a “twinning and training program” initiated by the Commission on Higher Education.

The partnership aims to develop a “globally benchmarked curriculum” that will improve the competencies of graduates of aircraft maintenance technology and aviation electronics technology programs of PhilSCA and WCC.