CAAP says ready for increase of passengers during holiday season
By Patrizia Paola C. Marcelo
THE CIVIL Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said it is ready for the expected increase in air passengers this month.
CAAP Director-General Jim C. Sydiongco said in a statement that airports under the aviation regulator are prepared for the influx of passengers this holiday season.
Massive movement of people is expected, with many Filipinos traveling to the provinces as well as overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and migrants visiting the Philippines for the holidays.
Mr. Sydiongco said the number of air passengers is expected to increase by approximately 10%, per their records.
Last year, passenger movement totaled 18,337,772.
The government agency said that under its “CAAP Balik Pasko Program,” it will “institute additional measures to ensure safe, reliable and convenient operations” in all its 35 airports engaged in commercial operations, from Dec. 1 until Jan. 5 next year.
“Concerned government agencies operating at the airports — including the Office of Transportation Security (OTS) and the PNP Aviation Security Group — have also been directed to deploy sufficient personnel at their area of concern to ensure smooth passenger flow,” CAAP said in a statement.
CAAP has also canceled the leaves of operations personnel. “To assure the riding public that the measures will be successfully implemented, all leaves for operations personnel are canceled to make them available to augment airport service staff.”
Mr. Sydiongco also reminded all employees and officials to strictly adhere to the government’s “No Gift Policy,” by refraining from soliciting and/or accepting directly or indirectly any gift or favor from individuals, corporate entities or third parties. The policy is provided for under Section 7(d) of Republic Act 6713, or the Code of and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.
CAAP added that they have been coordinating with airlines regarding the efficient processing of passengers, particularly at the check-in counters.
“Additional airline personnel have been scheduled for additional duty to further bolster the manpower to handle the increase in the number of travelers,” CAAP said.
