Poe questions hike in airport terminal fees

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Grace Poe on Thursday questioned the increase of terminal fees for passengers boarding flights at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

The Manila International Airport Authority announced on Tuesday a hike on terminal fees charged to passengers, bringing terminal fees to P300 from P200 for domestic passengers and P750 from P550 to international air travelers.

Poe, in a statement, said that there should be “real public consultations” before this move that would affect 42 million people, which is the number of passengers who flew through the Philippines’ main airport in 2018.

“Another reason why the holding of public hearings is a must is the recent imposition of fuel charges on Filipino air travellers. There are multiple taxes and fees embedded in a ticket, including travel tax,” she also said.

MIAA general manager Ed Monreal said that hiked terminal fees would be collected starting next year. He added that the increase is necessary to cover the rising maintenance and operational costs at the NAIA.

But Poe questioned where would the fund collected as terminal fees or “passenger service charge” go. “What are they going to do if ever it increases? We can’t simply take it hook, line and sinker and give it them,” she said.

The senator also raised that it has not been long since the Xiamen Airlines incident happened that left paralyzed operations at NAIA for nearly 36 hours. She added that passengers who testified at the Senate legislative inquiry said that NAIA’s sound system was not working and they were not informed of their boarding time and gates.

“Before focusing on the 'charge' part, maybe it is best for MIAA and NAIA to first focus on 'passenger service,'" she also said.

Monreal said that air travelers will be notified of the new terminal fees through publication on newspapers. The increase would also be included when they purchase their plane tickets.

In September, Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific announced that they started the imposition of fuel surcharge in their ticket prices.

Alexander Lao, president and CEO of Cebgo Inc., a unit of Cebu Pacific, was quoted in a STAR report as saying: “It is quite important because of the soaring fuel prices and the weakening of peso against the dollar. Actually, the Philippines is one of the last few countries, at least in destinations where we are flying, that implemented the fuel surcharge.” — Kristine Joy Patag