San Miguel-led group mulls fees for vehicles parked for over 10 minutes at NAIA curbside

NAIA Infrastructure Corp. is studying imposing fees on drivers who take more than 10 minutes to drop off passengers on the curbside of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport as is being done in other airports overseas to decongest the area.

According to San Miguel Corp. president and chief executive officer Ramon Ang, one of the main causes of congestion in the area is “passenger meeters and greeters” who take their time on the curbside of the airport.

“Sa abroad may time ‘yun (Abroad, they have a fixed time). If you stay beyond 10 minutes, P200. If you stay beyond 30 minutes, isang libo (P1,000) na. Pinagaaralan namin lahat ‘yun (We are studying all that),” he told reporters in a roundtable in Pasig City.

NAIA Infrastructure Corp. — made up of San Miguel Holdings Corp., RMM Asian Logistics Inc., RLW Aviation Development Inc., and Incheon International Airport Corp. — is set to take over NAIA on September 14, 2024.

Ang, who leads the group, cited practices in European airports such as those in Paris and Belgium, where drivers are given a ticket once they enter and are given fees if they fail to exit at a given time.

“’Yung passenger meeters and greeters, ‘yun ang nagpapa-congest ng husto. Ibig sabihin, ihahatid ‘yung girlfriend or ihahatid ‘yung anak, ‘pag dating sa departure curbside hindi aalis ‘yun. Bakit? Kasi aantayin niya muna ‘yung anak niya or ‘yung girlfriend niya bago siya aalis,” he said.

(The passenger meeters and greeters cause the congestion. What I mean is when they drop off their girlfriend or their children, when they reach the departure curbside, they do not leave. Why? Because they wait for their child or their girlfriend to leave before they do.)

Ang said the group is also studying imposing heftier parking fees, especially for drivers of vehicles who are not doing any business within the airport, such as residents of nearby condominium units who take advantage of the current fees.

“Tignan mo ‘yung mga carpark ng airport. Ang mura niyan, so anong ginagawa ng mga tao? Mga bumibili ng condo? Hindi na bibili ng car parking area, diyan na nagpa-park sa airport kasi mura lang eh,” he said.

“Oh ngayon, mahalan na natin ‘yan para maalis ‘yung mga unrelated to the airport, hindi pumarada doon. ‘Di mas may space na ngayon ‘yung mga travelers to park. ‘Pag naghatid sundo ka, meron ka na ngayong mapaparadahan,” he added.

(Look at the car parks of the airport, they are so cheap so what are the people doing? Those who buy condos? They no longer buy car parking areas, they park in the airport because it is cheap. Now we will make it more expensive to remove all those non-airport related vehicles to free up space for travelers to park. When they bring and fetch passengers, they will have somewhere to park.)

The study is also looking at reassigning terminals and airplanes to make the airport more efficient in the long term.

“Walang kaibi-kaibigan dito. Ang importante sa akin dito is how to decongest, how to reassign lahat ng airline na ‘yan para hindi sabay sabay sa isang lugar (There are no friends here. What is important to me is how to decongest, how to reassign airlines so that they are not in the same area at the same time),” Ang said.

Ang on Monday also addressed the reported increase in parking fees and landing fees, as he said San Miguel had no involvement in this, and that this was set by the government.

“Government nag-set ng presyo. ‘Yung mga sinasabing rate na tataas presyo, parking fee, landing fee, walang kinalaman sa San Miguel ‘yan. Ang nag-prepare niyan, puro foreign expert,” he said.

(The government set the price. The reported price increases, parking fees, landing fees, San Miguel had no involvement there. Foreign experts prepared that.)

Ang in March said the group plans to build a new passenger terminal building with a capacity of 35 million passengers per year, which will also have a carpark with a capacity of 9,000 vehicles.

On Monday, however, he said that the group is reviewing the terms of reference of the concession agreement with the Department of Transportation, as this may limit the planned terminal building.

Ang said the concession agreement is now being looked at, as they can be sued if the passenger building is outside the scope. It is now being evaluated whether it will be the Terminal 2 extension or Terminal 5.

“Whatever we can do to make the passenger experience better, we will do it,” he said.—LDF, GMA Integrated News