DOTR: No stopping hikes in Naia fees, charges

Plane fares are poised to soon shoot up as charges for using the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) will nearly double next year as part of the government’s concession agreement with the private sector, according to the Department of Transportation (DOTr).

Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista told reporters on Friday that the passenger terminal fees at the soon-to-be-privatized Naia would spike to P950 next year from around P500 to P550 currently.

“That will be added to the overall cost of the ticket paid by passengers,” Bautista said during a press conference.

“We need to compensate the concessionaire for their investment. But the investments that they will make, the charges that they will collect, will improve the efficiency of the airport,” he added.

READ: DOTr tries to justify hike in Naia charges

The secretary clarified, however, that the proposed schedule of fees stipulated in the Manila International Airport Authority Administrative Order No. 1 still needed Congress’ approval before it is implemented.

Takeoff and landing fees charged to airlines, meanwhile, are expected to increase before the end of the year. Bautista did not say, however, by how much these will increase.

A consortium led by conglomerate San Miguel Corp. won the mammoth P170.6-billion contract to upgrade the country’s main international airport after offering the highest revenue share for the government.

San Miguel is set to take over the operations of Naia in September.

Bautista’s announcement came after consumer advocacy groups and representatives of the aviation sector cried foul over the planned fee hikes at Naia, saying that the “gargantuan” increases would make the Manila airport and the country’s primary gateway among the most expensive in Asia.

The groups called on the DOTr to cancel the “unreasonable” rate hikes.

READ: Aviation groups ask DOTr: Stop ‘gargantuan’ hike in Naia fees

For its part, the agency clarified that the proposed rates were meant to replace the 24-year-old charges still being implemented. The new rates, according to the DOTr, would reflect the 160-percent average increase in consumer price index over the last two decades.

The DOTr previously said that Bautista had “deemed the increase in fees and charges necessary” to “elevate” Naia from its current “dismal condition.”

Despite the proposed increase in takeoff and landing fees, Bautista pointed out that these were “not major expenses” paid by airlines/

“The airport charges—takeoff and landing fees—are not a big percentage of the cost of operations,” he said, noting that the San Miguel consortium’s investments would double Naia’s capacity to 62 million passengers.

Based on the DOTr’s schedule of frees and charges, airlines pay a landing fee of up to P100 per 1,000 kilograms and P80 for every 1,000 kilos in excess of 160,000 kilos.

These added costs are expected to be also passed on to passengers.