Domestic terminal fee to be integrated into airline ticket cost

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The Manila International Airport Authority is all set for the integration of the P200 domestic terminal fee into the cost of a local airline ticket starting Aug.1, according to MIAA general manager Jose Angel Honrado.

However, the MIAA will continue to operate domestic terminal fee counters at the ninoy Aquino International Airport’s Terminals 2, 3, and 4 for up to a year as quite a number of tickets have already been sold or will still be sold by the airlines prior to Aug. 1, Honrado said.

Honrado said in a statement that the MIAA expects a complete phaseout of the terminal fee counters after a year, and “until that time, we advise all domestic passengers departing from Manila on Aug. 1 onwards to bring a printed copy of their plane tickets or electronic tickets. These will be presented as they check in for their flights.”

The MIAA and local airline companies “have agreed to integrate the terminal fee into the cost of the plane tickets for domestic destinations in a bid to minimize the hassle for departing passengers who have to go through several checkpoints before boarding their flights,” Honrado said.

The NAIA terminal fees go to the maintenance, expansion and rehabilitation of local airports.

Six domestic carriers recently signed an agreement with the MIAA on the incorporation of the NAIA domestic terminal fee into the price of an airline ticket. They were Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific, Air Philippines, Seair, Sky Pasada, and Zest Air.

Honrado said “the integration will benefit millions of domestic passengers who pass through NAIA Terminals 2, 3 and 4. For the year 2011, the total domestic passengers that passed through these terminals hit 8.43 million as against 7.37 million in 2010.”

“We are already preparing for the second phase of the integration project where we hope to replicate this arrangement with the international airline companies,” he added.