THE PHILIPPINES will eventually need to build a new airport to accommodate increasing passenger traffic, the Center for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) said in a report, but should immediately implement measures to decongest the country’s main gateway like transitioning to a single runway operation and increasing capacity through upgrades of its four terminals.
THE NATIONAL Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) provided further details of the NEDA Board’s decisions on Wednesday, saying the latter approved a new alignment for Metro Manila’s airport expressway, among others.
THE GOVERNMENT could miss its mid-2016 target rollout for the new international gateway that will replace Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), after the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) said it will finish the full feasibility for the project in February 2016.
The heat is on at the NAIA. Sweltering heat and a non-functioning air-conditioning system plague departing passengers at the NAIA Terminal 1 on Tuesday, April 15, causing at least one case of fainting. Ariel Fernandez President Benigno Aquino III on Wednesday apologized for the air conditioning problem at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1, blaming the matter on the government’s procurement system. “Humihingi tayo ng paumanhin at pasensiya pero talagang sa higpit ng mga patakaran sa gobyerno… hindi ka naman puwedeng umorder ngayon at deliver within 30 days,” Aquino said during an interview with reporters at the North Port Passenger Terminal Complex in Manila. He explained that the contract to supply new air conditioners for the 30-year-old Terminal 1 was awarded in November last year but the air conditioners will only be delivered in August this year. “Ngayon pinapatanong ko bakit ganoon katagal? Alam ninyo sa gobyerno, pag meron kang gustong bilin, normally apat na buwan mula sa inorder mo hanggang mai-deliver pero inaabot ng siyam na buwan,” he said. “Custom-made ba itong mga aircon na ito, hindi off-the-shelf? Hinihintay ko iyong feedback noong umabot nga sa atin iyong problema doon sa T1,” he added. — RSJ, GMA News
President Benigno S. Aquino III inspects the security arrangements and facilities at the domestic departure area, Terminal 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay City on Thursday (October 31) to ensure the safety of the passengers during the observance of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day following the launching of DOTC’s Undas 2013 “Oplan Ligtas Biyahe.” (MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) – After the country regained the much-coveted Category 1 status from the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Malacañang on Saturday assured the public that the government will ensure that the Philippine aviation upgrade will be sustained. In an interview aired on government-run dzRB, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the FAA will observe the country for the next two years “at sisiguraduhin na magiging mahigpit ‘yung ating pagsubabay doon sa mga guideline.” “Sinisigurado din naman po ng ating pamahalaan na hindi na po tayo magkaroon ng mga SSC, or ‘yung tinatawag po nilang Significant Safety Concern. So, may dalawang taon po tayo para ipagpatuloy po ‘yung ating mga hakbang at masiguradong hindi na po tayo mabalik sa Category 2,” she added. On Thursday, the FAA said the Philippines has complied with international safety standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). “With the International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) Category 1 rating, the Republic of the Philippines’ air carriers can add flights and service to the United States and carry the code of US carriers,” it said. It said the return to Category 1 status is Read More …
THE P1.64-BILLION rehabilitation of Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 (NAIA-1) will start today, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DoTC) said in a statement.
THE GOVERNMENT will transfer a number of foreign airlines’ operations from Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 (NAIA-1) to Terminal 3 (NAIA-3) in April to alleviate congestion in the older terminal.
Ninoy Aquino International Airport INQUIRER FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto is proposing the use of travel tax and other fees collected from passengers to improve the security and condition of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Recto specifically pointed to the fees being collected by three government agencies – the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), and the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA)—which he said derive much of their combined annual P16.billion income from NAIA. Even a fraction of the fees paid by passengers and planes to these three agencies for use of NAIA, he said, will be enough to install “clean toilets, CCTVs and comfortable couches” in its four terminals. “If a mall charges a mere P10 for the use of a hotel-like toilet, I can’t see why a Filipino travelling abroad who pays P550 in terminal fee and P1,620 in travel tax should be entitled to less,” Recto said in a statement on Tuesday. In 2012, MIAA posted a gross operating income of P8.28 billion and a net income after tax of P2.64 billion. Of its gross, he said, P3.3 billion came from “toll and terminal fees” paid by departing passengers, who cough up P550 if bound for abroad, and P200 if headed for domestic destinations. Recto said 2012 was also a banner year for another TIEZA, which raked in P3.5 billion in “travel tax” levied on 2,271,468 departing passengers. Its collection, he said, would have been higher if not for the exemption granted by law to overseas Filipino workers, 443,868 of whom were reported to have exited in 2012. Recto said Read More …
That’s right… P-Noy only has two and a half years left in his term. But in practical terms, he has less time than that. He only has this year and the first half of 2015 to get any thing worthwhile done… one and a half years to go. Election fever will afflict the country starting the second half of next year and through the first half of 2016. Based on past experience, nothing much for the good of the country gets done during an election year. P-Noy started off his term on a very high note. There was hope that finally the country’s economy has a good chance to become a tiger like its neighbors in Asean. And things started well as P-Noy was seen as the exact opposite of the immediate past president, Gloria Arroyo on that long festering problem of corruption. P-Noy’s credibility in the good governance arena was enough to gain the confidence of the foreign economic and political analysts. Even if the Daang Matuwid battle cry has not produced palpable results beyond the Presidential pronouncements, folks were ready to take P-Noy at his word. Indeed, we found ourselves among those considered as a most promising emerging economy in no time. It was as if everyone had always recognized the outstanding economic potential of the Philippines and it was only the sheer corruption of its governing politicians that is holding us back. We got successive credit rating upgrades. Foreign investors looking for alternatives to the developed world’s equity markets Read More …
A man believed to be mentally ill breached the security fence of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 on Monday night and was able to get near a plane. In a phone interview with GMA News Online on Wednesday, Civil Security Officer Luis Cometa of the NAIA Terminal Police Division said airport security personnel were alerted at around 9:45 p.m. Monday about a man seen standing near a Kuwaiti Airlines plane parked at Bay 4. Airport security officials apprehended the man, identified as Marcelo Maligalig, a resident of Taguig City. Initial investigation showed that he was a mental patient who has been repeatedly confined at the National Center for Mental Health (NCMH) in Mandaluyong City. “Hindi naman siya nag-cause ng disruption sa airport o naging threat sa mga pasahero. Nakalapit lang siya sa aircraft,” Cometa said of Maligalig. Maligalig, who was carrying several identification cards bearing his name, was eventually turned over to his sister, policewoman Christine Maligalig of Southern Police District. NAIA reportedly has no CCTV cameras around the perimeter fence where Maligalig climbed. But an airport official speaking on condition of anonymity said there are CCTV cameras installed in the area but the incident was not recorded because the area was too dark. General Jesus Gordon Descanzo, manager of the airport police department, also said there are CCTV cameras installed at Terminal 1, although he was uncertain if they are still working. “Hindi ko alam kung gumagana pa yung nakakabit doon dahil subject for rehabilitation na Read More …