DOTC to relocate NAIA Terminal 1 dignitaries lounge

MANILA, Philippines - Transportation and Communications Secretary Manuel Roxas II said yesterday the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal I Dignitaries Lounge would be relocated to give more space for a loading bay for outbound and inbound flights.

In a press conference, Roxas said the 30-year-old NAIA’s current Dignitaries Lounge was originally meant for another loading bay, as designed by National Artist for Architecture Leandro Locsin.

This prompted the DOTC to consider relocating the lounge and lay out a loading bay in its place.

“It’s not just a possibility, it’s a likelihood,” Roxas told reporters.

Roxas gave a press conference to announce an inter-agency consultative meeting he was set to preside over at the DOTC with top officials of the Bureau of Immigration (BI), Bureau of Customs (BOC), Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) and its Bureau of Quarantine and Health Surveillance to discuss ways to further improve services in key international gateways and airports led by the NAIA Terminals I, II and III.

The NAIA was recently voted as the “World’s Worst Airport to Sleep In” by the “The Guide to Sleeping in Airports,” an interactive website that gathers reports from various reviewers and travelers.

BOC Commissioner Rozanno Rufino Biazon, BI Commissioner Ricardo David Jr., MIAA general manager Jose Angel Honrado, and Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr. attended the meeting.

“The main objective of this pro-active and collaborative effort is to find the best approach to address recurring issues related to terminal and airport services,” Roxas said.

“An efficient system in strategic entry and exit points in key gateways and airports in the country will encourage more people to travel and visit key local tourist destinations,” he said.

During the consultative meeting, heads of the various government departments agreed to work together to achieve the common goal of uplifting the image of the country’s airport to counter recent negative reports about its current condition.

Roxas said the DOTC recently conducted a “time-and-motion” study at the NAIA Terminal III during the All Souls’ Day peak travel season, the results of which he shared.

A finding of the study, Roxas said, showed that it takes about 30 minutes for a traveler to enter the terminal, clear immigration procedures, up until he or she reaches designated boarding gates.

During the holiday season such as the recent Undas long weekend, it took passengers 30-45 minutes to complete the whole procedure due to the higher volume of travelers.

“We are anticipating an increase in the number of travelers, OFWs and balikbayans as we approach the Christmas holiday season. The meeting is very timely in ensuring convenience and reliable airport services are in place in our airport,” Roxas said.

He stressed that the conference hoped to formulate immediate solutions.

“We have to maximize the present resources that we have,” Roxas said.

The DOTC chief noted that the persistent problem of long queues at the immigration area could be solved by increasing the number of booths and deploying more immigration examiners.

“Additional personnel could be hired. Or there could be redeployment,” Roxas said.

The current administration is reinvigorating the country’s tourism campaign with an aim of doubling tourist arrivals within the next three years. The DOT is eyeing to attract about 3.6 million tourists by yearend.

Stopgap measure

President Aquino said the NAIA Terminal 1 will undergo a makeover as a stopgap measure while the government is working to improve the facility.

In his World View interview on YouTube, the President was asked yesterday about his plans for the airport that was recently tagged as the “World’s Worst Airport To Sleep In.”

“It’s a 30-year-old structure, it has suffered the ravages of time. A plan for improving it both aesthetically and structurally will be presented to me Tuesday next week, but it will be a stopgap measure for the next four or five years. We are already looking at alternatives to that complex (problem), given the fact that it will be hard-pressed to support the 10-million tourist arrivals that we are targeting,” Aquino said.

Asked if it was a matter of personal importance to him to improve the airport since it was named after his father, national hero and slain senator Benigno Aquino Jr., the President said “personal wants should not be overtaken where the nation is concerned.”

“It is a heavily built up area, we are almost at the point that it’s totally saturated, the whole complex is designed for 32 million arrivals, 32 million people that will be utilizing it, it is now approaching 30 million,” Aquino said.

“It is so built up, that it would take a lot of expropriation proceedings, delaying the whole process, for instance, (for) our new target of 10 million tourists into the country,” he said.

Aquino said tourism was important because it was a “low-lying fruit as far as we are concerned – one direct job for every tourist arrival, 10 million jobs is really what we are striving for.” – With Aurea Calica