By Ma. Cristina Arayata | Philippine News Agency
MANILA — The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) on Tuesday announced that it has remitted PHP3.5 billion in dividends to the national government for 2018, the highest in its history.
In an interview with the Philippine News Agency (PNA), CAAP spokesperson Eric Apolonio explained that the increase in CAAP’s income was due to several factors.
CAAP’s income, he said, comes from the 42 airports that it manages, overfly fees, take off and landing fees, parking fees, and aviation schools.
“Since we already have the CNS/ATM (Communications, Navigation, Surveillance / Air Traffic Management), we could monitor every carrier that passes through our country. There is a fee for that even if the Philippines is not (the carrier’s) final destination,” he said.
Apolonio compared this to a toll fee. He said the CNS/ATM could track the specific flight that passes through the Philippine air space, and airlines would need to pay for this.
He added that the airlines submit a flight plan if it would pass the Philippine air space, and there is an automatic billing for that.
The CNS/ATM, according to Apolonio, has been operational since 2018. Its full operation started in January 2019.
Managing 42 airports contributed significantly to the increase in CAAP’s income.
“The landing and take off fees in all 42 airports have increased (last year). A substantial number of these airports have also increased their terminal fee,” he remarked.
Concession fees, not just from the airlines but also from others using the airports, are another contributing factor.’
Apolonio also noted that the increased number of flights last year was another factor, as this meant that airlines coming in and out of CAAP-managed airports would have to pay the Authority.
“We also had many chartered flights in tourist destinations like Bohol. Davao had many international flights,” he added.
Aviation schools, on the other hand, also pay CAAP for flying an aircraft.
“We would know that because they (schools) would need to submit a flight plan,” he said.
Apolonio, however, said the CNS/ATM could not track trainer aircraft, which is normally used by aviation schools.
Meanwhile, CAAP announced that its computed dividend for 2018 was only PHP958.5 million. However, it reported excess cash of PHP2.55 billion, and thus remitted PHP3.5 billion dividends.
CAAP did not remit any dividend from 2011-2015, arguing that “it has full fiscal autonomy”.
The Authority began remitting dividends to the national government since 2017.
