Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 28) — Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Norman Tansingco on Tuesday called for the expansion of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) to accommodate a bigger immigration area.
In a statement, the BI chief said passengers reported that the long queues at the NAIA may have been caused by the transfer of more flights to the airport. “NAIA Terminals 1 and 3 have witnessed an unprecedented surge in international travelers since stop operations of international flights in Terminal 2,” he added.
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According to the bureau’s data, NAIA Terminal 1 registered a “remarkable increase” in daily average international travelers since June 16, logging 28,956 passengers per day. This was a 48.1% rise from an average of 19,553 passengers daily prior to the transfer.
Meanwhile, NAIA Terminal 3 recorded a daily average of 33,682 travelers since June 16. The terminal saw an increase of 19.58% from the pre-transfer average of 28,168 passengers.
“We have added more immigration officers to service travelers. Now we see more immigration officers on duty than installed counters,” Tansingco said. The BI said each shift of officers at NAIA Terminal 3 processes around 4,000 to 6,000 arriving and departing passengers. The agency has deployed an additional 59 new immigration officers that graduated from its academy earlier this month. Tansingco said the BI has also deployed at least eight mobile counters per terminal to reduce wait times in queues. He also pointed out that airports in other countries have big immigration areas to accommodate more counters and passengers. “We are thankful to the airport management as they have committed to expand the immigration area. We hope that the space would be sufficient for us to be able to install more counters and deploy more officers,” he added.
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Tansingco said that the bureau has also initiated several digitization projects, aiming to expedite processing times and enhance efficiency.
