WORLD’S WORST: Only in the Philippines

“The Guide to Sleeping in Airports website named Singapore’s Changi Airport, Hong Kong’s Chek Lap Kok airport and South Korea’s Incheon as the world’s top airports…
Naia earns P8.5 billion in cash from terminal fees every year, not including the revenues from concessionaires, the airlines and parking fees. The big question, he said, is where does all this money go, and why isn’t it being used for the betterment of the airport.”

By: Ernesto Herrera

As aviation reviews go, I am more concerned about the International Civil Aviation Organization’s negative assessment of the Philippine aviation industry, which had led to our downgrading by the United States Federal Aviation Administration in 2008 and blacklisting by the European Aviation Safety Agency in 2010, than I am about the Ninoy Aquino International Airport being tagged as the worst in the world by the website The Guide to Sleeping in Airports, which also ranked Naia 5th worst in the world last year.

Not that the website review does not matter. The consistent ranking of Naia among the world’s worst, and this year’s topnotcher, was based on reviews of travelers who complained, among other things, of “safety concerns, lack of comfortable seating, rude staff, hostile security, poor facilities, no (or few) services to pass the time, bribery, being kicked out and general hassles of being in the airport.”

These problems need to be addressed for sure, number one among them, the extortion which has plagued Naia for the longest time, and which can be found in many forms, from the luggage trolleys that passengers have to pay for even if they are supposedly free, to the policemen and other personnel who solicit money from passengers.

But these are managerial and operational problems that can be solved with available resources, efficient management and political will.

Robert Lim Joseph, chairman of the Tourism Educators and Movers of the Philippines, told Karen Davila on ANC’s Headstart on Thursday that there is enough revenue to improve Naia’s facilities.

Joseph said Naia earns P8.5 billion in cash from terminal fees every year, not including the revenues from concessionaires, the airlines and parking fees. The big question, he said, is where does all this money go, and why isn’t it being used for the betterment of the airport.

There is certainly more than enough revenue to make Naia’s facilities world-class. As suggested by Joseph, the government should conduct a thorough audit of the terminal fees and other Naia earnings to make sure the money is going where it should and not to line the pockets of corrupt officials.

This should be done before considering privatizing the airport altogether. Adding comfortable seats, putting up service kiosks and help desks, refurbishing comfort rooms, and stamping out corruption—in other words addressing the complaints posted in The Guide to Sleeping in Airports website—does not need privatization, just common sense, good management and good people.

The bigger problem is that Naia has already reached its saturation point and there is not much room for expansion. According to a study by the Department of Transportation and Communication, the rated capacity of all four Naia terminals is about 32 million passengers a year. This year, the airport is expected to service 30 million passengers. It is not only reaching the limit runway-wise, but terminal-wise as well. This could not be dealt with regardless of how much money you spend improving Naia. This requires another airport altogether.

But isn’t this what Naia 3 was supposed to be for when it was built, to solve the overcrowding at the older Naia terminals? Beset by unresolved legal and technical issues with the Philippine International Airport Terminal Co. and German shareholder Fraport AG, Naia 3 is operating at a third less than its intended capacity of 13 million passengers a year. Would we still need to develop the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport if Naia 3 could be made fully operational?
This is one of the things the DOTC needs to study before selling Naia and before making the Clark airport the country’s premiere gateway, which would entail among other considerable costs a high-speed train from Mabalacat, Pampanga to Metro Manila, preferably in the central business district of Makati.

There are several conglomerates who are more than willing to buy and operate Naia, Naia 3 and DMIA, among them San Miguel Corporation and Metro Pacific Corporation, but privatization needs to be studied carefully.

The Guide to Sleeping in Airports website named Singapore’s Changi Airport, Hong Kong’s Chek Lap Kok airport and South Korea’s Incheon as the world’s top airports. Changi and Incheon are operated by private companies while Chek Lap Kok is operated by the Airport Authority Hong Kong, which receives no government money and will soon be publicly listed.

The argument could be made that an airport could operate more efficiently when privately run, as it is driven by the bottom line of profitability. Unfortunately we have had sad experiences wherein privatization only led to exploitation and overcharging the public.

There are many ways to involve the private sector in airports, whether through capital investment in new infrastructure or by turning over to them operation and management of airport facilities. However, we have to make sure that these measures would lead to greater efficiency and accountability to the public and travelers.