NAIA to still play X’mas tunes as execs review ‘silent’ concept

The Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) said they will think long and hard before implementing the proposed "silent airport concept" being recommended by international airline executives at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

Alfonso Cusi, MIAA general manager, stressed that they have yet to receive an official communication from the Airline Operators Council (AOC) regarding the implementation of the said concept at the NAIA.

"We still haven’t received any letter from them regarding this request. In the event we do get one, we still have to study it, evaluate it," Cusi told The Star.

He said that while waiting for the recommendation from the AOC, everything will stay the same at NAIA Terminals I and II.

He said that plans to play Christmas songs this coming holiday season will push through as has been the tradition at the airport in the past several years.

Cusi explained that Filipino culture will be considered in a recommendation of the possible prohibition on the playing of music that is included in the silent airport concept being pushed by the AOC.

"There cultural considerations there. We really have to evaluate the plan," Cusi said.

It will be recalled that the AOC had suggested to MIAA the possible implementation of the silent airport concept for possible implementation at NAIA.

Leoncio Nakpil II, AOC chairman, said that other Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries have been putting in place this concept at their international airports.

The airports of Hong Kong and Singapore, he said, are already "silent."

Nakpil said that the concept was being pushed by airlines for the benefit of their passengers, who should be spared from the unnecessary stress of dealing with a noisy airport.

"Flying is already stressful as it is. And when a passenger is welcomed by noise when going through an airport, you just expose him or her to additional stress," he said.