By Christine Fabro
The Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) vowed to address congestion in immigration areas at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) after receiving various complaints concerning missed flights due to long queues.
MIAA General Manager Cesar Chiong said they are in collaboration with the Bureau of Immigration (BI) to increase their manpower at the immigration counters in order to control the build-up of passenger queues.
“We are getting the commitment from the Bureau of Immigration to increase their manpower even before the surge of passengers comes during the peak hours of the day in order to arrest the build-up of passengers,” Chiong said.
“MIAA is looking for ways to alleviate the issue as much as we can. In the meantime, we ask for the public’s understanding as the measures are put into place,” he added.
The MIAA proposed installation of additional electronic gates for departing passengers in order to reduce processing time of travelers.
It also requested airlines to open their check-in counters earlier to accommodate arriving passengers who are unable to check-in right away.
The MIAA said it is set to roll out more improvements in immigration processing by mid-year, including a physical re-laying out of Terminal 3 to make room for more immigration counters, and the reassignment of terminals, which aims to turn Terminal 2 into all-domestic. – gb
