FOR?
MANILA, NOVEMBER 16, 2011 (MALAYA) ('An airport
terminal should process as many passengers as fast as possible with proper
regard to their comfort.')
WE hate to rain on the parade, but there really is need to temper the
enthusiasm over a proposal to prettify the Ninoy Aquino International Airport
Terminal 1 with cold reality. The upgrade was conceived by a group of
professionals who had had enough of the whining and the griping and, for a
change, wanted to show they care. Their brainchild was a more
passenger-friendly, visually pleasing and commercially bustling facility at an
estimated cost of P1 billion.
Like everybody else, we saw the concept via the web. The presentation is
fast-paced, copiously illustrated and intelligently annotated. A lot of
thinking, creative juices and patience obviously went into making the video. Had
monetary value been imputed into the effort, it would have been substantial. But
the proponents did it gratis. They wanted to stand up and be counted. Here is
how they did it.
Transport Secretary Mar Roxas apparently has bought the project and is
already selling it to President Aquino. Well, we hope the upgrade starts soon.
The NAIA 1 is a shame.
The most obvious areas to start are those used by the passengers themselves.
Cleaning the floors and sprucing up the walls, ensuring toilets are working and
providing comfortable lounging chairs are competencies and responsibilities
well-within the airport management's as currently organized. Big-ticket
improvements may need approval by higher-ups, but these are a matter of setting
budgetary priorities right.
But and this is the big but, there should be no illusion that an upgrade of
NAIA 1 will lead to any significant increase in the number of passengers it can
handle. The proposed new design is clear on this point. It takes the number of
aircraft parking bays as a given. This the number upon which every calculation
follows, including the volume of passengers that may be handled at any one time.
NAIA 1 has reached or has nearly reached its capacity. There is certainly no
more room in it for more aircraft. Hence, no room also for more passengers. This
is the reason Terminals 2 and 3 were precisely built.
Hence, our reservations over the proposed expansion of the road access to
NAIA 1. Why build access for more than the number of passengers and likely
well-wishers? To service, perhaps, the people who are expected to flock to the
shops and the sights proposed to be accommodated under the blueprint?
This is possibly the least thought-out part of the plan. An airport terminal
should process as many passengers as fast as possible with proper regard to
their comfort. On arrival we want to get out of the terminal immediately, not
gawk at some touristy scene. On departure, we wish we are airborne soon.
We don't buy another mall or a tourist strip right outside the current NAIA 1
and the inevitable heavy traffic it would generate. This development could
possibly come, say, when the airport is finally moved out from the metropolis to
accommodate the growing number of travelers, but should not deliberately be
undertaken now.
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2011 by PHILIPPINE
HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
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