Airports, seaports brace for second wave of travelers

THERE THEY GO Passengers going to Visayas and Mindanao await their rides at Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange.  —Richard A. Reyes

MANILA, Philippines — Authorities are expecting a second wave of holiday travelers after airport managers reported “seamless” operations on or before Christmas Day.

This time, the transport sector is gearing up for the expected influx of travelers around New Year’s Day, particularly at the country’s seaports, which usually see more passengers than airports.

Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesperson Commodore Algier Ricafrente said they expect the usual surge in travelers to start on Friday, just ahead of the long weekend leading to New Year’s Day.

READ: Christmas holiday: BI logs nearly 190,000 travelers at airports

“We expect that people will start flocking again because tomorrow is Friday. Our record in the past year showed that from a mere 132,000 passengers on Dec. 26, the number of travelers hit over 233,000 the next day,” he said.

According to Ricafrente, the PCG has deployed around 3,000 personnel to inspect more than 1,000 vessels at ports nationwide daily.

“We will not be reducing the number of our personnel because of the influx of travelers, and we are on heightened alert until Jan. 3,” Ricafrente added.

The PCG, he said, was cooperating with the Philippine Ports Authority and Maritime Industry Authority to investigate reports of extortionists supposedly preying on ferry passengers.

Ricafrente made the statement following the arrest at the Batangas Port of two people who allegedly dunned “fees” from travelers in private vehicles to be allowed to cut lengthy queues.

Adjustments

He conceded that long queues at ferry ports remain a recurring problem. “But we have already made some adjustments wherein vessels no longer need to follow their schedules, so that as soon as the vessel arrives, they can already start the loading procedures to somehow speed up the next trip,” he said.

The delays in the loading of passengers result in a domino effect across the whole system, Ricafrente noted.

The latest data showed the country has more than 200 domestic passenger and ferry ports, usually operated separately from container and international passenger ports.

On the other hand, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (Caap) operates 44 airports across the country.

The Caap said there was also a surge in holiday traffic for Christmas Day, but faster check-ins, improved baggage handling, and better passenger flow management helped make operations “seamless.”

“Christmas is one of the busiest times of the year, and we’re delighted to have provided seamless travel experiences for Filipinos and international visitors,” Caap Director General Manuel Antonio Tamayo said in a statement.

But Caap said it remains on heightened alert with the New Year approaching.