CAAP on high alert ahead of holiday

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said it is deploying additional personnel across all airports as it anticipates air travelers to increase by 10% for the upcoming All Souls’ Day and All Saints’ Day.

“CAAP has heightened security across all 44 CAAP airports from Oct. 25 to Nov. 10,” CAAP said in a media release on Monday.

Last year, CAAP recorded 2.1 million passengers traveling from October to November, up 10.5% from the 1.9 million passengers in the same period a year earlier.

The operator of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), New NAIA Infra Corp. (NNIC), said it is teaming up with various stakeholders at NAIA in preparation for the expected passenger influx for the upcoming All Souls’ Day and All Saints’ Day.

NNIC also said that it is in discussion with transportation service providers to increase the number of available vehicles for passengers. 

Data from Manila International Airport Authority showed that it has recorded a total of 33.69 million passengers as of August; of this, 18.07 million are domestic passengers while 15.62 are international passengers.

Earlier, Philippines AirAsia, Inc. (AirAsia Philippines) said it had logged more than 50,000 seats sold for the travel period of Oct. 30 to Nov. 3.

Meanwhile, budget carrier Cebu Pacific, operated by Cebu Air, Inc., said it is anticipating one million passengers for the upcoming All Souls’ Day and All Saints’ Day alone.

Over the weekend, flag carrier Philippine Airlines announced that it is expecting NAIA’s Terminal 2 to get busier beginning Nov. 5 as three other airlines are set to transfer their domestic flights to Terminal 2.

Earlier this month, NNIC said that Terminal 4 of NAIA is scheduled for renovation and upgrade starting Nov. 6.

With this, Cebu Pacific will relocate the operations of its regional brand Cebgo to Terminal 2 from Terminal 4 effective Nov. 7; while AirSWIFT Transport, Inc. will also transfer its operations to Terminal 2 starting Nov. 5.

Boutique airline Sunlight Air will also move its operations to Terminal 2 starting Nov. 6, according to the company’s social media advisory. — Ashley Erika O. Jose