DOTC eyes raising NAIA terminal fees to P750 again

(UPDATED 9:40 a.m.) - Bad news for passengers using the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA): Less than a month after airport terminal fees were lowered to P550 from P750 per passenger on February 1, transport officials are mulling raising the fee anew.

 

The plan of the Department of Transportation and Communications comes less than a month after the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) rolled back the terminal fee from P750 to P550, radio dzBB reported on Tuesday.

 

DOTC Secretary Manuel Roxas II said the additional revenue will go to rehabilitating the NAIA Terminal 1, the report said.

 

MIAA general manager Jose Angel Honrado said the airport terminal fee was rolled back from P750 to P550 per passenger on February 1 because the five-year security development program had ended.

 

In 2007, the MIAA had hiked by P200 the airport terminal fee (from P550 to P750 per passenger) to improve security measures at the NAIA, which it supervises.

 

The security improvement program allowed the MIAA to acquire equipment such as surveillance cameras and new x-ray machines. The NAIA, formerly known as Manila International Airport, is located along the border between Pasay and Parañaque. It is the main international gateway for travelers to the Philippines. It is managed by the MIAA, a branch of the DOTC. Early last month, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) disclosed that the Aquino administration will spend P1.16 billion on NAIA-1, particularly for “better architectural and engineering design,” a “rapid exit taxiway” and the rehabilitation of the airport’s 72 lavatories.   The announcement came after the “Guide to Sleeping in Airports” dubbed NAIA-1 as “the world’s worst airport.”    “Forget about sleeping in this airport! You will not want to even close your eyes here! Bribery and theft exists,” it said, adding that the airport taxes “does not seem to go towards the betterment of the airport.”   While it noted lacking services like left luggage and pay-in lounges for transit passengers, the website said “the one big plus” of the airport is the free WiFi connection in the “passenger movement areas.”   NAIA-1 was designed for 4.5 million passengers a year, but it now caters to 7.3 million passengers. –with Rose-An Jessica Dioquino, KG/VVP, GMA News