A GROUP of lawyers and academics on Monday asked the Supreme Court (SC) to stop a plan to increase service fees at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), set to take effect on Sept. 14.
The group, led by lawyer Joel R. Butuyan and Antonio Gabriel M. La Viña, former dean of the Ateneo de Manila University’s School of Government, asked the tribunal to block the Manila International Airport Authority’s (MIAA) revised Administrative Order No. 1, issued last year.
Named respondents were Executive Secretary Lucas P. Bersamin, the MIAA, Pre-Qualification, Bids and Awards Committee for the NAIA public-private partnership (PPP) project, PPP Governing Board and New NAIA Infra Corp. (NNIC).
The same plaintiffs earlier asked the High Court in April to void MIAA’s revised administrative order and the award of the concession agreement to NNIC, arguing that both were illegal and against public policy.
In their latest filing, they opposed the upcoming fee hikes. Under the plan, international departure fees will rise 72.7% to P990, while domestic passenger service charges will increase 95% to P390.
The March 18, 2024, concession agreement among the Transportation department, MIAA and NNIC covers the rehabilitation, operation and expansion of Manila’s international airport, with a 15-year term that is extendable by 10 years.
“The petitioners cannot and should not be burdened by exactions arising from an administrative order and from an awarded concession contract that violate their constitutional rights to due process and the equal protection of the laws,” the plaintiffs said in their lawsuit.
Officials from the NNIC, MIAA, San Miguel Corp., the Presidential Palace and Transportation department did not immediately reply to separate Viber messages seeking comments.
The group noted that since the NNIC assumed operations in September 2024, fees and rentals at NAIA have surged. They said landing and takeoff charges have more than tripled, while aircraft parking rates have risen more than 15 times.
They also cited a 60% increase in tracking fees, a 90% rise in lease rates for airlines, a 50% hike for ground handlers and a 50% increase in rates for lounges and commercial spaces.
They added that the concessionaire has yet to build any major structure or introduced significant equipment upgrades.
“These increases will affect 130,000 airline passengers daily, or more than 50 million passengers per year [who] have been reportedly recorded to have used NAIA in the past year,” the petitioners said in a separate statement. “It will also affect 750 flights per week, or 293,433 flights per year, per 2024 statistics.”
The plaintiffs cited jurisprudence involving NAIA that held excessive airport fees ultimately burden ordinary Filipinos, threaten business viability, cause job losses and worsen inflation and unemployment.
A separate petition was filed last week by a coalition of citizens, taxpayers, overseas Filipino workers and airport employees questioning both the MIAA order and the March 2024 concession agreement granting NNIC control over NAIA’s modernization.
San Miguel Corp.-led NNIC in March signed a P170.6-billion contract to operate, maintain and upgrade the country’s main gateway for 25 years. It took over the airport in September last year.
The NNIC plans to build a passenger terminal building with a capacity of 35 million passengers annually as part of efforts to ease airport congestion.
Passenger volume at NAIA rose 4.73% in the first half to 26.74 million from a year earlier, thanks to the sustained growth of domestic travel. The number of domestic passengers climbed 6.25% to 14.27 million, while international passenger traffic rose 6.76% to 12.47 million, MIAA reported earlier this month.
For the six-month period, MIAA logged 147,813 flights. MIAA expects passenger volume to grow by as much as 30% this year. — Chloe Mari A. Hufana
