Even President Rodrigo Duterte’s Cabinet members had to endure the inconvenience caused by the ongoing renovation of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2.
Malacañang on Monday called out Manila International Airport Authority for the two-hour delay in the retrieval of check-in luggage in the airport, saying that the management of NAIA could have easily remedied and avoided the situation.
In a Palace press briefing, Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo called out MIAA general manager Eddie Monreal for the inconvenience following the four-day working visit in Japan.
“First of all, I’d like to call the attention of the NAIA General Manager. Of course, I already told [Transportation] Secretary [Arthur] Tugade about the incident last Saturday. It took us more than two hours to retrieve our luggage. Why? Because there was only one or two carousel functioning and there were four trips arriving simultaneously at the airport,” Panelo told Palace reporters.
He explained that the inconvenience was made worse by the several arrivals coming from different flights.
“There was the trip from London, from Bangkok, Singapore and from Japan. Not only that, the air condition was not functioning, if at all; and there was no space to maneuver or to move, because can you imagine hundreds of passengers in front of one or two carousels,” Panelo said.
“We understand of course, that it’s under renovation, but I think they can be better than what happened last Saturday,” he added.
According to the Palace official, the MIAA could have easily remedied and avoided the inconvenience from getting out of hand.
“Although the General Manager has apologized today for the inconvenience. But we suggest—because their explanation is that one carousel broke down. Carousels should be checked on a regular basis. If you do that every week or at least twice a week, I don’t think a carousel will break down,” he said.
“Another explanation is that there were simultaneous arrivals, but that can easily be remedied. How? All the NAIA would do is to request the airlines or their respective planes, not to disembark the passengers for at least 30 minutes interval so that they will not be all there in one sweep,” he added.
Meanwhile, Monreal was quick to apologize to all airport users for the inconvenience brought by the malfunctioning baggage carousel and the surge in arrivals.
“I personally apologize to all NAIA T2 passengers who had to contend with two carousels servicing several flights not to mention the limited ventilation due to the rehabilitation,” he said.
“We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience that the project is causing to all. We seek for more patience and understanding. Once completed, it will be worth all the trouble and discomfort. We only ask for your time,” Monreal added.
The MIAA chief issued the apology to the passengers of PR731 (Bangkok-Manila), PR508 (Singapore-Manila), PR721 (London-Manila), PR540 (Jakarta-Manila), PR353 (Macau-Manila), PR421 (Haneda-Manila) and PR337 (Shanghai-Manila) last June 1.
The Palace then said it accepts Monreal’s apologies.
“We accept the apologies of the Secretary or rather of the Director-General and I commend Secretary Tugade for assuming responsibility. He texted me and he said it’s command responsibility. And I told him that’s a very good attitude except that your General Manager should refrain from performing acts which can be avoidable, and that incident could have been avoided,” he said.
As this developed, the MIAA said it is hastening the ongoing renovation of Ninoy Aquino International Airport – Terminal 2 to meet its March 2020 deadline as air travelers started experiencing difficulties using the facility.
“We started last September 2018 and despite the challenges, we shall proceed as planned. I say challenge because we are business as usual despite ongoing works,” said Monreal.
Monreal admitted that the past few months have been difficult for passengers as they have to deal with smaller spaces to move around due to board ups in certain areas.
Temperature inside the building is also affected due to air ducts within board up areas that cannot be used.
“We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience that the project is causing to all. We seek for more patience and understanding. Once completed, it will be worth all the trouble and discomfort. Konting panahon pa ang hinihiling namin,” he said.
The MIAA chief extended his apologies particularly to affected passengers of Philippine Airlines flights from Bangkok, Singapore, Jakarta, Macau, Haneda and Shanghai last Saturday who had to bear longer waiting times to retrieve their bags.
Airport officials said delayed flights led to simultaneous arrivals and there was an incident when one carousel broke down just before the surge in arrivals. The subject carousel is now fixed and operational.
“I personally apologize to all NAIA Terminal 2 passengers who had to contend with two carousels servicing several flights not to mention the limited ventilation due to the rehabilitation,” said Monreal.
The renovation project involves terminal’s architectural face lifting with the replacement of damaged floor finishes, restoration and chemical cleaning of stained floor finishes in the arrival and departure passenger movement areas.
The damaged ceilings of NAIA 2 will be replaced while 32 sets of skylight roofing will be repaired. The seismic and expansion joints at general areas, baggage claim area and elevated roadway are to be replaced as well.
Replacement of glass doors at the pre-departure gates and fixed bridge gates, cleaning and polishing of metal frames, metal louvers and claddings will be undertaken.
Monreal said marked improvement will soon greet passengers with the expansion of the departure check-in hall and the arrival baggage area.
“The work would include construction of a drop wall, installation of structural framing, installation of new glass wall panels and partitions, glass doors and metal ceiling panels,” he said.
To complement the expansion of these two areas, there will be installation of additional air-conditioning system, power, lightings, fire protection, electronics and communications systems. The construction of a power room is necessary to host additional power supply requirements for these additional installations.
“The exterior of the building will have its share of fixing as exterior ledges, walls, beams, soffit, pathways and pocket gardens undergo waterproofing works,” added Monreal.
Additional tubular bars at the bottom of existing railings will be put in place for the safety of well-wishers.
“Passengers will be happy to see a much improved flight information display system and take delight listening to a new public address system after completion of the project,” said Monreal.