Airport terminal fees to increase – Public hearing today: P300 fee for domestic, P750 for int’l travelers

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The Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority is seeking an increase in terminal fees charged for departing passengers.

If approved, the fee will be P300 for domestic travelers or an increase of P100, and P750 for international passengers, up from P550.

A one-time public hearing is set for 2 p.m. today at the MIP Building of the airport to listen to feedback of all stakeholders.

The airport management is certain to be asked why higher fees are needed, who benefits and how the fees will be used to improve facilities.

It is also expected to face questions about why fees are being increased when a private consortium, GMR-Megawide, is taking over in November after winning a P17.5 billion contract to upgrade the airport terminal into a world-class complex.

Conditions of the congested Mactan terminal are the subject of frequent complaints from users who contend with malfunctioning baggage carousels, inadequate air-conditioning and lighting, peeling paint and old toilets amid the general deterioration of facilities over the years.

MCIAA general manager Nigel Paul Villarete said he would address all questions today at the hearing.

He declined to give details on the purpose of the proposed increase and breakdown of fees, saying the public hearing would be the proper venue to take it up.

“I don’t want to keep issuing statements in the newspapers and then get confused reactions. It’s better to answer and present everything during the public hearing (today),” Villarete told Cebu Daily News.

Villarete said the rate increase is still a proposal which should be agreed upon during the hearing. It’s up the MCIAA board of directors to approve it.

“I’m expected to make a report after the hearing which I will be submitting to the board for approval.”
By law, only one hearing is required before MCIAA can implement any rate adjustments according to Villarete.

The proposed increase is about 50 percent of current levels.

The last rate adjustments were made in 1999 and 2005, according to Villarete. The Mactan airport is governed by its own charter and board of directors, which includes the Cebu governor and private sector business representatives in Cebu.

BETTER FACILITIES NEEDED

Several business leaders in Cebu, sought for comment, said any fee increase should guarantee better facilities.

In fact, the improvements should be visible first before collecting more from the public, they said.

“The proposal is untimely since we have the same facilities,” said Prudencio Gesta, director of the Cebu Bankers Club and past president of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI).

“Maybe the increase would be appropriate if renovation of the MCIAA building was already completed.

The general public may not mind this fee increases if there’s corresponding better facilities enjoyed by riding public,” he said.

He said the MCIAA “should publish details of where the terminal fee collections over the years were used so the public will better understand the propriety of a terminal fee increase.”

Marget Villarica, president of the Cebu Association of Travel Agencies , agreed.

She said it would be best if the rate increase is implemented once the new airport with promised world-class facilities is done.

VALUE FOR MONEY

It boils down to getting value for the additional cost on the riding public.

Cebu Business Club president Gordon Alan Joseph said that there is always a cost to being world class.

“However, before they increase the fees there has to be a corresponding increase in value for the airport users,” he said.

Joseph said he is aware that new airport managers plan to market the Philippines as an international tourist destination.

“I think this increase is required and any negative effects will be short term,”said Joseph.

CCCI president Ma. Teresa Chan said that as long as the fee will translate to convenience and ease to the passengers, she sees no problem.

“I believe the P100 and P250 increases for domestic and international terminal dues are reasonable provided they will be able to deliver their commitments in terms of improved services and world class facilities. I don’t think travelers will mind as long as their airport experience will consistently be pleasant. If the added fee will provide efficiency, it can even boost tourism and investment,” said Chan.

LOWER THAN MANILA

Patria Roa, former regional director of the Department of Tourism and who used to sit in the MCIAA board, said passenger terminal fees in Mactan were usually patterned after Manila rates in the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

“There was a time that the domestic terminal fee was only P80 then it was increased to over P100 before it reached the rate now of P200. The international terminal fee, however, was lower than that of Manila which is now P700 while Cebu is only P550 from P350 in the past,” she said.

“They must be able to rationalize this so that the public will understand. The public should also feel free to air out their concerns, whether they are in favor or not and why,” she said.

Melanie Ng, a private sector representative in the MCIAA board of directors, said the proposed fee increase “is all for the development of Cebu.”

Ng said a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) was held earlier among stakeholders in the tourism and business community on the proposed increase.

“Whatever is discussed tomorrow is not yet final. Ultimately the board has to decide. The public hearing is a venue for us to listen to the public sentiment,” she said.

The notice of public hearing was published once in a boxed advertisement in the Aug. 28 issue of Sun.Star Cebu and the Bulletin Today.

GMR-MEGAWIDE

Sought for comment, GMR-Megawide chief executive advisor and chief marketing officer Andrew Harrison, said the consortium will listen to public feedback.

“We acknowledge that we have been invited to the public hearing (today) and we would want to hear what would be presented first before we issue any statement,” he said.

GMR-Megawide Consortium was awarded the P17.5 billion new terminal for the Mactan-Cebu International Airport in April this year.

The new terminal will have 33 additional aircraft parking, 149 check-in counters an adjoining airport village and mall complex.

The consortium is set to take over management of the existing and new terminal in November or six months after signing of the contract.

The new terminal shall increase passenger capacity by 8 million once completed within 36 months or three years after the official start of construction.

Harrison said GMR-Megawide plans to start construction of the new terminal in the first quarter of 2015.

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