Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 26) —The Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) said airlines have back up plans to accommodate an expected average of 1.2 million travelers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) for the holidays next week.
Bryan Andersen Co, MIAA senior assistant general manager, said NAIA sees an average of 120,000 to 130,000 travelers per day from Oct. 27 until Nov. 6.
“Since marami na ulit ‘yung nagta-travel (a lot are traveling again), normal na ulit ’yung air travel (air travel is back to normal), there is just a slight increase of 8-10% on a daily basis for this 10-day period,” Co said.
“The 1.2 million is very manageable for NAIA for a 10-day period,” he added.The airport operator said the expected number of travelers will matche last year’s Undas (All Saints Day, All Souls Day).Co also said NAIA handled 140,000 to 150,000 passengers during travel surges pre-pandemic.MIAA said it is expecting more outbound passengers from Friday to Sunday this week and more inbound travelers next weekend.The airport operator also reassured the public that airlines, including Cebu Pacific, Philippine Airlines, and AirAsia, have contingency plans for unforeseen events such as bad weather.
“For the peak season, they (airlines) are actually investing in having spare aircrafts,” Co said. “It means na kapag may na-disrupt or na-cancel na flight (if there is a canceled, disrupted flight), due to weather or operational reasons, meron silang (they have an) aircraft.”
“They’ve assured us that a percentage of their fleet will be dedicated for spare,” he added. “Meaning walang naka-sched na flight sa mga aircraft na ‘yun (It means these aircrafts have no scheduled flights) but just to act as a backup.”
MIAA said airport terminals have also deployed enough personnel to man desks. It said it has coordinated with the Office for Transportation Security to beef up some protocols.
Manuel Gonzales, chief of the office of the assistant general manager for security and emergency services, said airport authorities held several drills last week in preparation for other security emergencies such as bomb threats or shooting.“We have already cascaded the security protocol that we will institute just in case meron instant hard emergency that will come up during this particular long holiday,” Gonzales said.
