Justified increase in rates

We all want better airports that are cleaner, faster, more efficient. But for years, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) has been asked to deliver all that while charging the lowest terminal fees of any major airport in the country.

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Today, a passenger flying out of NAIA pays just P550 for international departures and P200 for domestic and these terminal fees haven't changed in two decades. In the same period, the airport has grown to handle more than 50 million passengers a year, more than any other airport in the Philippines.

Meanwhile, regional airports that serve far fewer travelers have long increased their fees. In Davao, Iloilo, Bohol, and Kalibo, passengers pay P900 for international flights and P350 for domestic. Mactan-Cebu charges over P1,000 for international departures.

For over two decades, NAIA kept its terminal fees unchanged even as other airports across the region adjusted theirs to keep pace with inflation, rising operating costs, and growing passenger expectations.

Holding the line may have helped travelers in the shortterm, but it also meant delaying the upgrades and improvements that passengers have been asking for and deserve.

This is one of the reasons the government entered into a public-private partnership to rehabilitate and modernize NAIA. The proposed increase to the terminal fees is part of that long-overdue effort.

Even with the impending increase to P950 for international and P390 for domestic, it will still fall within the range of other Philippine airports and remain far below international benchmarks. At Singapore's Changi, passengers pay the equivalent of over P2,600. In Bangkok and Tokyo, the figure ranges from P1,200 to P1,300.

Passengers are not being asked to pay more without seeing results. Barely a year since New NAIA Infra Corp. took over, improvements are already being felt. The air-conditioning works.