A better airport

Those of you who have traveled during the Lenten break through the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) may have seen the improvement.

I did and I experienced it. We now have a better and more efficient airport, at least that’s what I noticed when I departed and arrived through Terminal 3 recently.

People I know who traveled during Holy Week noticed the same thing. This was a pleasant surprise, considering how chaotic our airports could be during peak seasons.

Lance Gokongwei, chairman and owner of budget carrier Cebu Pacific, also noted that the airport has been running smoothly over the past couple of months.

“Actually, the whole airport has been running well. For the last couple of months, we have been running at 80 to 85 percent on time within 15 minutes, which is globally competitive,” he said.

“I think the current airport team is pretty good,” he added, noting that this is from his own experience as a traveler.

Lance is keeping his fingers crossed that the positive changes will continue.

Initiatives

The initiatives put in place by the new airport team led by Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista and Manila International Airport Authority GM Cesar Chiong are paying off, it seems.

For instance, in the area of safety and security initiatives, MIAA successfully passed US and Transport Canada security assessments; limited the issuance of airport access passes and reactivated a Safety Action Group. It has also successfully completed quality management tests.

There are also measures to digitize and automate key activities to improve airport efficiency.

In this regard, MIAA targets to pilot the implementation of automation of the passenger processing and airport management system by the first half of 2023.

What does this mean? It would be a major shift from the current manual handling process and it would increase terminal throughput without major infrastructure development.

Enhancement of passenger experience

In improving passenger experience, MIAA is also in continuous discussions with major airlines and new entrants to increase capacity on certain routes.

It likewise assisted the Bureau of Immigration in its One Stop Shop initiative with the opening of a center at Terminal 3.

In streamlining the international transit passenger process in Manila, MIAA removed manual documentation requirements and random inspection procedures. It also implemented airside transfer between terminals.

Travel tax counter

One initiative I particularly appreciate is the relocation of travel tax counters to areas that are more accessible and convenient to passengers.

At the NAIA Terminal 3 for instance, you had to walk to the ends of the earth – I mean to the farthest end of the terminal – to pay your travel tax. This was particularly annoying and inconvenient for passengers, especially senior citizens.

MIAA also initiated the construction of an overseas Filipino workers lounge at Terminal 3.

Passenger friendly

In case you also didn’t notice but which is really a good step, MIAA also improved lighting in all passenger terminals. It is looking at implementing a new lighting design in the long term.

There will also be an ongoing comprehensive review of the air conditioning systems, which indeed has room for improvement. When I flew out of Terminal 2 in March, the air conditioning system did not seem to be working efficiently.

MIAA is also improving WiFi services, which is a must because world-class airports have efficient internet service.

In case you haven’t noticed also, the screening process has been streamlined across all four NAIA passenger terminals.

Operational efficiency

In the area of operational efficiency, MIAA is also implementing enhanced lightning alert systems to improve operational efficiency by reducing delays in the NAIA system.

These include the adoption of international standards on lightning alter systems.

MIAA is also improving compliance to airport slot guidelines to improve system performance.

It has limited non-scheduled cargo or freighter operations to non-peak hours.

Runway 13

MIAA also said that Runway 13 now allows for arrivals effective end-December.

There’s also a lot of emergency repairs in the runway, including repainting works to make markings more visible.

It will also be implementing major rehabilitation works on the main runway 6/24 and its taxiway.

Passenger offloading

The current airport team also hopes to address passenger offloading problems caused by immigration congestion.

It proposed a re-layout at Terminal 3 before the end of the first half of 2023.

And while we’re at it, the Bureau of Immigration itself should also do an internal overhaul, given the numerous complaints against it.

A world-class airport

These improvements are a positive step toward giving Filipinos the airport we deserve.

I’ve said this before and I will say it again, we deserve and we need a world-class airport. We needed it yesterday.

As an archipelagic country, the Philippines is blessed with bountiful resources including the best tourism spots and yet, it’s not that easy to visit the different provinces.

There are also some areas which don’t have operating airports yet.

We will all benefit if we have better airports – you, me and everyone we know, the airlines, the passengers, OFWs, our visitors, etc.

But shaking up the system and the status quo will always leave some quarters unhappy, angry even, especially those with vested interests.

The airport is one big business and many have been milking it for decades to enrich themselves. This must end because it is a crime against Filipino taxpayers, but this makes for another story, which will come at another time.

For now, we can enjoy the improvements in our airport and here’s hoping it gets even better.

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