‘We need a marketplace of ideas, not a marketplace of an airport, if we seek to be at par with the best our region has to offer the world.’
O traveler arriving in Manila from nearby places like Hong Kong, Bangkok, Singapore, Taipei, Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Kuala Lumpur, or even Jakarta will be left “unmoved” by the different scenes at the Ninoy Aquino Terminal 3.
First is the convergence along a narrow, low-ceilinged corridor of arriving passengers who now have to walk from the arrival tube to Immigration. Yes, walking is a fact of life in any of the other airports I mentioned above, and in some terminals, it can be quite a distance to walk. But because our terminal (3 is supposed to be the best since it’s the newest of the four terminals at the NAIA airport complex), it is at best disappointing to be “welcomed” in a facility that a dear friend from Thailand describes as “like one of our provincial airports.” Ouch.
The second scene to behold is the throng at Immigration. Again, this is not unique to NAIA because one encounters long queues at Suvarnabhumi, Narita, and even Haneda. And the wait can take 30 minutes or more before you actually come face to face with the Immigration officer.
But again, because of poor design – low ceilings especially, plus the preference for local travelers to engage with an immigration officer, the zone around the immigration booths can be noisy and overcrowded at times. Then things get even more interesting.
After clearing Immigration, the horde then descends to the baggage claim area, where about five – yes five – baggage carousels await. Again, the area is narrow, promoting a pile-up in the Customs area where selected people have assistants picking up their checked baggage. And then it’s on to the funnel – three Customs officers check the arrival QR codes of those who have attracted their “fancy” after which a visitor walks into the public arrival area of Terminal 3 or T3.
Again, a scene, this time a marketplace in terms of the number of people talking to each other while waiting for their passengers to emerge from the Customs area.
It’s a throng out there, and I can imagine foreigners being taken aback by the sheer number of greeters. Add to that the number of hotel airport transfer staff calling out to passengers and offering their car, van, or even taxi (which you may only discover at destination is a flat rate fee vehicle) – but it’s not over yet.
Because Filipinos love to welcome back a relative or friend with the whole barangay in tow, a good airport design would have an expansive area with high-quality ventilation. None of our NAIA terminals fit the bill.
Again, the driveway outside the arrival gates is narrow so that when a visitor is warmly welcomed by a friend or two with a hug or even a kiss, the vehicle also stops in its tracks, never mind if two of the three lanes are thus blocked.
I have also long commented on the poor design of the departure area, especially the curbside. For a country that is either drenched in rain or in sweat due to a scorching sun, notice how passengers being dropped off have no roof over their heads, so much so that a massive downpour leaves everyone wet to the bone. Or extra crispy if the noontime sun is beaming down on us.
San Miguel Corporation, whose task now is to elevate the NAIA terminals into a world-class facility, has a super tough task to complete. But I guess they’ll find their work far easier if they try to discern – to look deep into their experiences using our Manila airports and flying into any of those I mentioned above.
We need a marketplace of ideas, not a marketplace of an airport, if we seek to be at par with the best our region has to offer the world.
