BI vows to improve e-gates system

Arriving passengers queue at the immigration counters of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 on Sunday, August 5, 2018. (File photo by GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Immigration (BI) is working to improve travel convenience by making airline details in sync with airport electronic gate information, Commissioner Norman Tansingco said Thursday.

Tansingco said the bureau was planning to procure more electronic gates to replace more than 25 percent of manual operations in the country’s major international airports.

He explained that under a new system, travelers would be able to skip the manual scanning of their boarding passes.

“Instead of printing a sticker to be attached on the passport, passengers will receive an email acknowledging their arrival,” Tansingco also said.

“This is the best practice that we are emulating from other countries,” he added.

READ: BI eyes more e-gates to replace manual counters

The BI chief disclosed that his agency received reports that some passengers could not use the airport’s electronic gates when their flight records had not been synced, prompting travelers to go through the regular counters.

READ: BI sets sights on further modernization of operations

“We thank the public for their cooperation and understanding as we navigate through the birth pains of this evolving technology to ease immigration processing,” Tansingco said.