Alvarez wants COA to probe airlines for non-refund of terminal fees

House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez. Photo by Noy Morcoso/INQUIRER.net

Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez has urged the Commission on Audit (COA) to review the books of airline companies for the alleged non-refund of the terminal fee paid by their customers despite cancelled flights.

In a radio interview on Wednesday night, Alvarez said that the COA needed to find out where the paid terminal fees of cancelled flight s goes or are being held.

Alvarez questioned airlines that fail to offer refunds of the passenger’s terminal fee, which customers already paid upon purchase of the plane ticket.

The House leader was specifically piqued at Cebu Pacific, which, according to him, is merely focused on raking in profits rather than ensuring the safety and convenience of its passengers.

“Tapos meron pa,‘yung isa pang ginagawa nila [Cebu Pacific] (na) ‘pag na-late ka sa flight mo, cancelled na ‘yung ticket mo, balewala na, bibili ka na lang ng bagong ticket,” he noted during an interview with DZMM.

“Napakahigpit nila diyan pero hindi nila sinasabi sa pasahero na merong terminal fee na binayaran ‘yun. Kailangan i-refund ‘yan.”

“Hindi ko alam nga, kaya nga mag-request ako sa COA for a special audit kasi ‘yung terminal fee na binabayaran ng pasahero, kung hindi nila ini-refund ‘yan doon sa pasahero o kaya binigay sa airport authority, aba eh public fund ‘yan,” Alvarez also said.

Airline passengers are required to pay a terminal fee of P200 for domestic flights; and P500 for international flights.

Alvarez further questioned the necessity of travel tax payment apart from the terminal fee. He said that he is likely to call for a review of such policy. Travel tax costs P1,620 per passenger.                   /kga