Immigration chief backs NAIA flight relocation plan
The Bureau of Immigration (BI) is backing the Ninoy Aquino International Airport’s (NAIA) plan to relocate flights to other terminals to improve air traffic and reduce congestion there.
The rationalization scheme of the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) would help further improve BI’s services to travelers, BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said.
“We are confident that with this scheme, our immigration officers will be able to perform their jobs of conducting immigration formalities for international travelers more efficiently,” he said.
Under the rationalization plan, NAIA terminals 1 and 3 will be exclusive for international flights while NAIA terminals 2 and 4 will be for domestic flights.
Only five airlines will be left at the NAIA terminal 1, while 19 other airlines will be relocated to the NAIA terminal 3. The NAIA terminals 2 and 4 will be used exclusively for domestic flights.
Airlines were given six months to comply with the directive.
The rationalization scheme would “make it easier for the BI to determine how to deploy our personnel to the airport based on the needs of each of the two NAIA terminals,” Morente stressed.
BI port operations division chief Marc Red Mariñas said his office is preparing an operational plan to be put in place by August 31, when the rationalization scheme is implemented.
More than half of the 500 BI personnel at the NAIA will be assigned to NAIA terminal 3 where the bulk of international flights will be serviced, while the rest will be deployed to the NAIA terminal 1.
Mariñas added that some 20 unused immigration booths at the NAIA terminal 3’s arrival area would finally become operational, to reduce the long queues.
The BI also plans to install 70 additional workstations at the NAIA terminal 3 in anticipation of a sharp increase in passenger volume there.
“Our present departure area, which is very small, will also be expanded to accommodate more immigration booths that will cater to departing travelers,” Mariñas said.
