Airport electronic gates to ease holiday travel rush — BI

Filipinos arriving in the country this Christmas season might just be in for a surprise: shorter lines at immigration counters with the operation of electronic gates in Manila, Pampanga, Cebu, and Davao international airports.

This was announced Wednesday by Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Jaime Morente, who also explained that 13 electronic gates are currently operating at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia), three in Mactan airport in Cebu, and two in Davao International Airport.

BI Port Operations Division Chief Grifton Medina said three electronic gates are being constructed at the Clark International airport in Pampanga and will be operational by first week of December.

“We are targeting to ease the lines during the peak season, as we are expecting an influx of balikbayans and Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who will come home during the holidays,” Morente said in a statement.

“We want to provide better service for them hence this improvement. It will be our Christmas gift for the traveling Filipinos,” he added.

The electronic gates only take eight to 15 seconds to process a passenger, and this would allow queues to move faster, according to Morente.

Morente encouraged Filipino passengers to use the electronic gates at the airports to avoid lining up at immigration counters for manual processing.

But Medina asked the traveling public to be patient if some of the electronic gates encounter technical problems. /kga