MANILA, Philippines – Airline tickets to popular destinations in the country were sold out due to the long holiday.
For this reason, the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) is preparing for the on rush of passengers to the airports.
About 100,000 passengers go to the four airports in Metro Manila everyday, and this number is expected to go up by 10% to 15%, an equivalent of 5,000 to 10,000 passengers in the coming days.
Airport officials assured that what happened in December will not happen again, when many flights were delayed and cancelled due to congestion.
The MIAA has coordinated with airline companies to do everything to avoid problems for passengers who will be travelling to the provinces.
According to MIAA General Manager Jose Angel Honrado, it was learned that in the first wave of airplane flights from 4:00am to 7:00am, only 12 of 21 flights leave on time.
“We really have delays due to many flights,” he said.
All passengers were advised to allot four hours allowance for traffic for them not to miss their flights because according to the MMDA, on Friday, the DPWH will start the five road reblocking projects in Metro Manila which can cause traffic buildup.
Wednesdays bring the most number of passengers because they prefer that day. So the reblocking should not be done on a Wednesday.
Marlyn Sulayaw, a passenger, was in a hurry because she does not want to miss her flight but she was delayed because of the weight of her baggage.
She had to unload some of the contents of her bag to avoid paying charges when she checks in.
“I removed some of the things so that between my hand carry bag and check-in bag, the weight is balanced. I don’t want to pay extra charges,” she said.
MIAA is planning to coordinate with the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) to penalize airline companies that always have long delays. (Mon Jocson / UNTV News)