Rehab work shuts down NAIA aircon, computers

MANILA, Philippines - Departing passengers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 used their plane tickets and boarding passes as fans to keep cool when the air-conditioning system shut down at the departure area yesterday morning.

Bureau of Immigration (BI) officials at the airport said that from around 10 a.m., the electricity fluctuated for more than two hours, affecting the computer servers and air-conditioning, and creating long lines of departing passengers.

BI Terminal 1 head supervisor Dennis Opiña said they had to go manual to ease the long lines of passengers at the departure area and put up several electric fans to minimize the heat.

The NAIA Terminal 1 is currently undergoing rehabilitation that started last Jan. 23 and is expected to be finished in January next year. Passengers were advised through the paging system that the airport is under rehabilitation and were asked for their understanding.

The Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) yesterday appealed to the passengers at the congested NAIA Terminal 1 for patience amid the ongoing rehabilitation and retrofitting of the airport that would cost P1.3 billion.

Connie Bungag, chief of NAIA media affairs division, told The STAR that the air-conditioning system was affected by the ongoing rehabilitation as certain portions of the airport are enclosed.

“There is nothing wrong with the air-conditioning system,” Bungag stressed.

She pointed out that the temperature in areas where there are enclosures is affected.

According to her, the agency is set to acquire portable air-conditioning units to be deployed in affected areas.

The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) appealed to passengers at the 32-year old airport for understanding.

The government has tapped construction giant DM Consunji Inc. that was given until January next year to complete the project.

The project involves the structural retrofitting, improvement of mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection facilities as well as architectural work on the decades-old terminal building.

Over the course of its implementation, Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya earlier said that certain areas of the terminal building would be closed for renovation.

The closures are being done in six phases of 60 days each to be supervised by the DOTC and MIAA.

“We appeal for patience and cooperation from passengers taking Terminal 1. These minor inconveniences will result in a much-improved NAIA, with better facilities and services for the public, in a year’s time,” he added.

Wall St. Cheat Sheet, a United States financial media company, has ranked NAIA eighth among the 10 Worst Airports in the World, citing overcapacity issues in terminals 1 and 3.

According to the report posted online, the 10 worst airports are known for their “smelly bathrooms, long lines and rude staff.” It described NAIA Terminals 1 and 3 as “particularly crammed.”

The report named the other worst airports as Sao Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport in Brazil (1st), the Chicago Midway International Airport (2nd), the John F. Kennedy International Airport (3rd), N’Djamena International in Africa (4th), Paris Beauvais Tille (5th), London Heathrow (6th), LaGuardia in New York City (7th), Jomo Kenyatta International in Kenya (9th), and Tribhuvan International in Nepal (10th).

Abaya earlier said the organizing committee of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is giving the agency until this December to finish the project as the Philippines is set to host the APEC summit next year.

The DOTC earlier awarded a consultancy and management services contract to TCGI Engineers that submitted the lowest bid of P34 million for the P38.7-million project.

The rehabilitation of NAIA 1, built in 1981, would be handled by the original architectural and engineering firm Leandro V. Locsin and Associates while the Cobonpue, Layug and Pineda Group would serve as design consultants.

The rehabilitation of NAIA 1 and the P1.9-billion retrofitting works at NAIA 3 being undertaken by Takenaka Corp. of Japan are expected to be completed in time for the APEC summit to be hosted by the Philippines in 2015.

The NAIA Terminal 1 is congested, operating beyond its design capacity of 4.5 million as it is now handling over eight million passengers. With Lawrence Agcaoili