President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has renewed his administration's commitment to improving Manila's airport operations to ensure ease of travel to boost the country's tourism sector.

Photos by Noel Pabalate / File photo

Marcos said this during a meeting with the Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) Tourism Sector Group in Malacañang on April 27.

During the meeting, the President acknowledged the challenges at the country's major airports, such as space limitations and insufficient technology in processing travel documents.

In a statement, Malacañang said the officials who met the President told him there were minimal space in the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) terminals and physical space for more immigration counters.

They added that there were also some technical issues with the e-gates handling passports and visas.

"We should put a team specifically to study the technology to study all these proposals to see what it will take for us to be able to… The technology exists, so it's just a question of us adopting," Marcos said.

"Please keep monitoring and see how far we'll get, where we're falling behind, where we're doing right," he added.

To optimize the transportation experience to and from NAIA, the PSAC proposed several "quick win" recommendations, including providing concise and clear transport options for passengers leaving the airports and designating a large dispatch booth with uniformed dispatchers stationed in designated areas for pickups.

Among its medium-term recommendations are:

• Improving taxi information on the MIAA website
• Providing more modes of payment for airport taxis
• Launching inter-terminal shuttle services
• Designating a parking area for all rent-a-car companies
• Implementing international standard airport signages for tourists to easily determine where to get taxis, car rentals, buses, or terminal transfer shuttles
  
  

The Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) said it has been acting on PSAC's recommendations and has established a new website, and accredited taxis to prevent passengers from booking "colorum" taxis.

It is also coordinating with transport providers to accept other modes of payment, such as credit card payments, and procurement of additional buses to facilitate inter-terminal transport.

On the proposal to add counters, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) reported that it was planning on procuring 35 additional e-gates in 2023 and 50 more in 2024.

It added that it would submit to the budget department its request for additional plantilla positions.

On the proposal for a 'Green Lane' for repeat travelers, the BI committed to studying the coverage of those qualified as repeat travelers to address security concerns.

The PSAC comprises business leaders and industry experts who provide technical advice to the President in achieving the government's economic objectives, particularly in six key sectors such as agriculture; digital infrastructure; healthcare; infrastructure; jobs generation; and tourism.