NAIA Terminal Fees to Be Integrated into Ticket Prices in October

In a move to alleviate congestion inside the terminals of the country’s main gateway, the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) has decided that the ₱550 (US$12.50) terminal fee for international passengers will soon be integrated into the ticket price instead and collected by airlines, rather than being collected at the airport directly from passengers after they check-in for their flights. 

Image Source: Sleepinginairports.net
Transportation Secretary Jun Abaya congratulated the MIAA for making this move to improve convenience and processing efficiency for departing passengers.

In addition to providing convenience for passengers, the inclusion of the terminal fee into the ticket price is expected to free some space within the terminals as the terminal fee counters will be removed.

Based on the Memorandum of Agreement that the MIAA will sign with carriers, initial implementation of the scheme will take place in October 2014. Full implementation of the practice is scheduled for October of the following year.

Of the total amount of terminal fees collected from one passenger, ₱390 or 70.7% of it is used to maintain the facility; ₱100 or 18.1% is remitted to the national government and the remaining amount is allocated for security. The Philippines is the only South East Asian nation currently employing an up-front payment system of collecting terminal fees. By integrating this charge into the price of the airline ticket, the Philippines will finally be on par with other foreign countries that have been practising this system for several years. The Philippines adopted this practice of integrating terminal fees into ticket prices in August 2012 but it was used only for domestic flights departing from certain airports in the country. 

In spite of the change, some passengers will still face one additional queue for payment of fees. The TIEZA tax of ₱1,620 (US$37) is an additional fee paid by most Filipino citizens and aliens permanently residing in the Philippines. Passengers who purchase their flight tickets online to depart the Philippines usually need to queue at the designated TIEZA tax desk before check-in. However, passengers who purchase their tickets at a carrier’s ticket office or travel agency in the Philippines usually do not need to queue at the TIEZA desk as this fee is already included in the ticket price.

With the Ninoy Aquino International Airport consistently topping the list as one of the worst airports in the world, a growing number of critics have been calling for action to make better use of NAIA’s terminal fees. Earlier this year, Senator Ralph Recto commented that "If a mall charges a mere ₱10 for the use of a hotel-like toilet, I can't see why a Filipino travelling abroad who pays ₱550 in terminal fees and ₱1,620 in travel tax should be entitled to less."

The past few months have seen incidents, complaints and allegations of the failing standards at NAIA surface. These include malfunctioning air-conditioning units especially in Terminal 1, an unknown computer glitch at passport control which led to prolonged processing of passengers, and dishonestly-priced yellow taxis. Even President Aquino had to apologise to passengers for the air-conditioning problems. Meanwhile, rehabilitation work for Terminals 1 and 3 are currently on-going with Terminal 3 expected to finish next month and Terminal 1 expected to finish early next year. 

13 comments:

  1. Correct. The Philippines through the MIAA is the only Southeast Asian nation collecting terminal fees for departing passengers at NAIA. But why are they collecting terminal fees continously all these years for an airport also consistently voted "Worst Airport in the World"?

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    1. Nope. All airports in Indonesia are doing the same. They will stop doing that by December 2014 though.

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    2. bec. Indonesia is as corrupt :)
      The only country I left from going back to PH that collected terminal fees as well

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  2. I do not like T1 which is indeed poor.

    T2 is boring, has an air of sterility and lacks proper cafes,while T4 is small but quite 'friendly.'

    The criticism however should stop there, because I quite enjoy T3, especially now that landside it has quite a good restaurant offering on the fourth floor up the escalators.

    Even in the terminal (airside) T3 now has a better range of shops and 'restos' than it used to, including internationally. Once other airlines start using T3 for international flights, patronage of such cafes will soar.

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    1. T3 is a big improvement over the other terminals. But it still is lacking. I recently travelled through it and observed the following:
      a) air conditioning was not working properly, apparently "to be repaired";
      b) the whole place is dim, apparently the lighting is not all working or someone is trying to play cheapskate;
      c) the windows are dirty - with all the manpower we have in this country, at least the windows could be cleaned;
      d) the moving sidewalk is not working in the arrivals area;
      e) security folk on the planeside apparently don't know their procedures and cause quite a bit of confusion;
      f) restaurants appear shabby, staff untrained for public duty;
      g) restrooms need an urgent upgrade and are dimly lit;
      h) immigration is slow - why can't Filipino passports make use of the chip imbedded and local residents holding ACR-I cards also make use of the technology to speed up the processing;
      i) there needs to be a dedicated, free bus service between terminals, operated by the MIAA, to ease transfers for passengers. At the moment, there is no such service, unlike in other countries.
      If we want a truly good international airport, we need to push, and push hard. It's our money. It's our country. We have the right to demand!

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  3. I understand that the government is collecting only P100/person, but why even collect. Leave the airport collections alone...find other ways to collect tax money...Henares is doing that already. And why charge Filipinos that much to go on a vacation? For as long as this Sh*#t continues to happen, you can forget about getting out of the cellar dweller!

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    1. One of the problems with many economies worldwide, whether Philippines or so called 'developed' countries, is that there is a section of the population who evade or legitimately minimise tax pay few or no taxes. Therefore an airport departure tax is one way to collect a bit of tax from these. Of course, departure taxes penalise frequent travellers who might have to pay it 20 or 50 times a year.

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    2. But the government is responsible for the upkeep and improvement of facilities like Manila International Airport. People, Filipinos and legally admitted residents, are growing fed up with having to pay out money and getting nothing in return. It's disgusting and the thick skinned people who collect the money are disgusting, too!

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  4. How about those OFW's who are exempted to pay these terminal fee's? it should have an option in online booking or agencies if your OFW's.

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  5. Last year, 32,856,597 people went through NAIA. If half of those departed and paid five hundred pesos terminal fee, NAIA would have made 8,214,149,250.00!!! Eight billion! And that does not even include landing fees, franchise, outlet and space rentals, and other ancilliaries NAIA makes. Eight billion and you can't put toilet paper in the bathrooms?

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    1. You are spot on. Not even toilet paper. Shame on you NAA!

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  6. That's why NAIA stinks and needs to be bulldozed and those corrupt officials who profited from it for decades buried along with it.

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  7. We should begin to refuse to pay and demand that the government and the Manila International Airport Authority justify any further monies stolen from the innocent public.
    If we continue paying, we become complicit in the crime being committed at NAIA by the management.

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