The Bureau of Immigration beefed up its manpower at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport with the deployment of 56 more immigration officers in anticipation of the surge of passengers this holiday season.
BI Port Operations Division Chief Grifton Medina said the BI officers would be deployed to help process the thousands of international passengers expected to enter and exit the country in droves during the holiday break.
BI Commissioner Jaime Morente approved Medina’s recommendation to implement the personnel augmentation scheme in view of the reported increase in the number of passengers at the Naia and other airports in the past few days.
“We are actually expecting an upsurge of travelers entering the Philippines by around the second or third week of December as Christmastime approaches,” said Medina.
Medina said he planned to make sure that travelers will not encounter long lines both at the immigration arrival and departure areas, which is often a cause of concern for BI officials during the Christmas season.
Meanwhile, airline and airport authorities urged air travelers to allot ample time going to Naia and not to bring prohibited items to avoid hassle and delays this peak travel holiday season.
“We expect a heavy volume of travelers in the peak travel period, thus Philippine Airlines is advising passengers to leave home early to allot more time for travel to the airport and check-in early for an easier pre-departure process, and to avoid long security queues,” the PAL management said in a statement.
Passengers must also be aware of the flight boarding time. The counters will be closed one hour before flight departure.
“To avoid flight delays that may inconvenience passengers, we have to off-load baggage of passengers not present at the flight’s boarding gate 20 minutes before departure time. Aircraft doors shall be closed 10 minutes before flight departure,” the airline stated.
PAL also advised passengers to ensure that travel documents (passports/visas) and identification cards are in their possession and are easily accessible.
“Be mindful of valuables and personal belongings as well as infants and small children. Have name tags and distinguishing marks on pieces of luggage for easy identification and ease in retrieval from airport carousel,” it added.
“Liquids 100 ML or less can be stored inside hand-carry, in zip-lock bags; liquid amounts more than 100 ml must be placed in check-in luggage,” PAL also stated.
PAL is in close coordination with the airport authorities and the Police Aviation Security Group to meet passenger expectations for ease of travel.
Travelers are also reminded not to bring prohibited items to the airport.
Stricter security measure is being enforced at the NAIA to ensure the safety of passengers going to and from Manila in connection with the Yuletide.
The Manila International Airport Authority and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines have started reimplementing the “Oplan Biyaheng Ayos,” a government program to ensure safety in public transport hubs. The program will be running from Dec. 10, 2018 to January 5, 2019.
“To ensure safe, reliable, and convenient airport operations as Filipinos and tourists travel for the Christmas and New Year, the country’s aviation authority will be putting in place added security measures and will be observing maximum deployment of service and security personnel,” CAAP spokesperson Eric Apolonio said.
In line with this, Apolonio added, all four area cluster heads handling the 40 CAAP-managed commercial airports nationwide were also advised to implement a “no leave and day-off” policy during the conduct of the oplan.
Concerned government agencies operating at the airports, including the Office of Transportation Security and the PNP Avsegroup will also deploy personnel at areas of concern to ensure smooth passenger flow.
The CAAP has regularly prepared for the increase in passenger influx during the holiday season.