NAIA eyes terminal fees for OFWs to boost income

Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) General Manager Edgardo Manda said he wants overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to be charged additional fees, specifically the airport terminal fee, in order to augment the income of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

He admitted that MIAA is having financial problems and facing possible enormous expenditures in the rehabilitation of NAIA Terminal 1 building, pending the start of operations of NAIA Terminal 3 which is now in international court arbitration.

Manda hinted that most OFWs have enough money to pay for the airport terminal fee during departure, citing the high peso-dollar exchange rate.

"There are no plans yet to charge OFWs with terminal fees. That is a highly political issue," Manda said during a recent press conference at the MIAA Administration Building in NAIA.

"But, the (peso-dollar) exchange rate is quite high. They seem to have plenty of money these days," Manda said.

The airport chief, however, said he is sure that "politicians, including senators, congressmen, as well as their constituents and other people will be lobbying against the charging of airport terminal fees on OFWs."

Sources at the NAIA said that there are as many as 2,000 OFWs leaving for abroad daily, passing through the NAIA Terminal 1 and the NAIA Centennial Terminal 2.

However, OFWs are exempted from paying the P550 airport terminal fee per passenger.

Manda also revealed that they are trying to look into at other ways of increasing MIAA revenues, including putting up assembly plants inside the NAIA complex.

The MIAA chief said factories will soon be built inside the NAIA complex and partly managed by the MIAA, similar to that of the special economic zones at several ports in the country.

"We may get an airport ecozone status very soon, like a free trade zone. There will be assemblers. We have 35 hectares of land that would be segregated and used as an ecozone inside the NAIA complex," Manda said.

"For example, kits of cameras or home appliances that will be shipped to Manila from Singapore, can be assembled here in the airport. It’s cheaper that way. We have the perfect site here at the airport," he said.

Manda said that the site of the assembly plants will be in the east side of the property of NAIA, at the end of Runway 13-31 facing East, near C-5 Road.

He said that MIAA is still meeting with Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) director Lilia de Lima regarding the plan.

Lawyer Oscar Paras, MIAA senior assistant general manager, is part of the ecozone panel .

Manda also said that they still have to wait for approval of all the environmental clearances that they had applied for, before they can start constructing the factories inside the NAIA, hopefully by early year 2005.

Another such plan being considered by MIAA is raising land vehicle parking fees of the NAIA complex, which would soon be implemented this July.

Fees will be changed from a whole day flat rate of P30, to P30 for the first two hours and P10 for every additional hour for vehicles at the parking areas of the NAIA complex.

The airport chief said he feels they will be needing additional revenues now that resumption of operations of the NAIA Terminal 3 is unknown and may still be far away.

"We are still problematic in our revenues. We have to make some effort and take initiatives to get more revenues from non-aeronautical fees," Manda said.

However, Manda said aircraft landing fees and parking fees have yet to be discussed with airline companies. The MIAA chief said airline companies are even asking for a discount in parking fees.

"We still have not raised fees for aircraft parking. This is a very sensitive issue," he said.