No leaves, days off for airport personnel during holiday season

Passengers at the Clark International Airport (Photo courtesy of Clark International Airport Corp.)

MANILA, Philippines — The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) canceled all leaves and days off for airport personnel in preparation for the Christmas holiday season.

In a statement on Sunday, CAAP said it would also beef up security at airports.

“To ensure safe, reliable, and convenient airport operations as Filipinos and tourists travel for the Christmas and New Year, the country’s aviation authority will be putting in place added security measures and will be observing maximum deployment of service and security personnel,” the CAAP said.

“In line with this, all 4 area cluster heads handling the 40 CAAP-managed commercial airports nationwide were also advised to implement a “no leave and day-off” policy during the conduct of the oplan,” it added, referring to “Oplan Biyaheng Ayos: Pasko 2018” under the directive of the Department of Transportation.

The oplan will be implemented from Monday, Dec. 10 to Jan. 5, 2019.

To ensure smoont passenger flow, personnel from concerned government agencies operating in airports would also be deployed, the CAAP noted.

CAAP also coordinated with concerned airlines for the efficient processing of passengers, especially at check-in counters.

The CAAP, meanwhile, reminded passengers to comply with the airports’ security measures.

“Travellers are also reminded not to bring prohibited items to the airport and to stow all belongings in one’s carry-on baggage for faster processing at the screening checkpoints,” CAAP said. /atm