What’s new, NAIA?

There was such an outcry when the new parking rates at the NAIA were announced ahead of its implementation last Oct. 1 – from P40 for the first two hours and P15 for every hour thereafter to P50/P25 and for overnight parking from P300 to P1,200. No amount of explanation from the NNIC (New NAIA Infrastructure Corp. which took over airport operations last Sept. 14) could convince critics of the justification for the increase. By the way, the last rate adjustment was made back in 2000.

In our residents’ Viber group there were long back-and-forths among the pro’s and anti’s – there were a lot more of the latter – with accusations of elitism, discrimination, unmitigated greed, profit before service, convenience vs. hassle, of poor planning as in the new LRT station being too far away from the airport… on and on and on.

Just imagine the outcry when terminal fees are increased – reported to be from P200 to P550 for domestic flights and P550 to P950 for international flights – scheduled for September next year (OFWs will still be exempt). The only unanimous sentiment is that the NAIA is a crappy airport. From terminal facilities that ordinary travelers see and experience – comfort rooms, air conditioning, escalators, baggage carousels, etc. – to the behind-the-scenes technical aspects to the infrastructure, there’s no arguing that NAIA needs to be fixed.

By Oct. 2, when photos of near empty parking areas started appearing on social media with comments like “Ang dali mag parking!” the bashers fell silent; at least on this issue of parking rates. The overnight non-NAIA parkers were gone; then there was the discovery of cars that have been parked there for years, since 2014 even, the speculation being that these are probably casino-related vehicles, meaning cars given as collateral for gambling loans and never redeemed.

In no time, however, there were new angry posts about increasing stall rentals, allegedly from P40,000 to P75,000, so the P120 lugaw might now cost P350! And, echoing earlier posts that the folks behind NNIC (specifically San Miguel and its boss RSA) are simply in it to make money, one post said “may posibilidad na pag hindi na hit ng san miguel ang yearly qouta (sic) ay maging 100% na maibenta ng san miguel ang NAIA” – sell NAIA? Go figure.

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The other weekend I had the chance to see if indeed there was anything really new about the new NAIA, although just one month after taking over is not enough time to effect real, significant changes. Perhaps in my eagerness I was not just seeing the glass half full but also a clean glass with clean water – the departure level driveway was not crowded, quite orderly in fact, and we got in to the terminal (T-1) with ease.

Having checked in online and done our eTravel beforehand (that was quite a struggle for all of us, but that’s another story), we breezed through departure procedures.

Fortunately, traveling with my barkada of seniors, all with a very healthy sense of humor, made glitches less stressful: minutes after settling into our seats we were told to deplane because they had discovered something wrong with our plane. Unlike the poor guy who lost his cool since he was catching a connecting flight from Incheon to LA, we took the delay in stride, hoping they would find a plane for us. Fortunately, they did, and two hours later we were on our way.

I was curious to see how great Incheon Airport is, it being the fourth best according to Skytrax and since it is NNIC’s partner for the NAIA rehab (although there was a report where they clarified that their participation in the NNIC is only 10 percent, perhaps an escape clause should the rehab not go spectacularly?). Well, it is what you’d expect a modern airport to be – efficient, bright, but nothing spectacular, except for the moving panorama of ancient Korean life on the walls as we made our way (it’s quite a long way) from plane to immigration, where the line was serpentine and slow moving. But once we got through that it was a breeze to get out of the terminal and to our van.

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For sure, Incheon is a busy airport, with four runways (the fourth completed this year), two terminals and 107 plane movements per hour. More airlines use Terminal 1, including PAL, which is assigned to bay M at the far end. Again, going through immigration took a long time, so Pinoy shoppers should go to the airport early in order to have enough time to claim tax refunds on purchases.

We were boarded and plane doors closed about 20 minutes ahead of schedule, and our purser expressed delight that we would be in Manila earlier than the 11.30 p.m. schedule. Alas, it was not to be, as there was a long queue on the ground and we ended up sitting in the plane for a good part of an hour before finally taking off, landing in Manila at midnight.

Since we were the only flight arriving at that time, going through immigration was painless and fast. The only fly in the ointment was that my two bags, although checked in together, did not come out at the same time; one suitcase took over 15 minutes to appear.

I don’t want to pin blame on airline or baggage handlers, but the same thing happened last year when I came back from Dipolog. When I got home I found that the lock on my suitcase – in both cases – had been jimmied, but since it was one of those TSA locks, it was not opened, but then neither could I unlock it with the key. I again had to have the lock cut. I don’t know what the x-ray revealed about the contents of my suitcase; was it the croissant cookies or the dried figs that caught their attention? Perhaps that is something the NNIC can look into, put CCTV cameras there or something. Guess it’s not just the physical facilities that need a rehab.