Passenger screening at NAIA to be done before immigration check

By Ma. Cristina Arayata, Philippine News Agency

NAIA, the country’s main gateway, catered to 50.1 million passengers in 2024. The total was 10.43 percent higher than in 2023 and 5.8 percent more than the pre-pandemic’s tally in 2019. (File Photo by patrickroque01/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)

MANILA – Screening checkpoints at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) will soon be placed prior to Bureau of Immigration (BI) counters, an executive of the Office for Transportation and Security (OTS) said Friday.

In an interview with the Philippine News Agency, OTS spokesperson Kim Marquez said they have been receiving complaints from passengers who, when found with prohibited items, could no longer go back to the check-in counters to leave them behind as their passports have already been stamped by the BI.

“The OTS suggested that security screening should be done first. Because when they have something to check in, the Immigration does not allow them to go outside back to the airline counters,” Marquez explained.

Once the screening is done prior to Immigration, the passengers have the option to have the disallowed items checked in instead of getting confiscated, she added.

Marquez clarified that no one gets offloaded for carrying prohibited items as OTS can only confiscate.

An example is liquid container with an above-100 ml capacity, whether filled up or not. It will be confiscated at the final check.

She said interchanging the OTS and BI stations was discussed with the operator, New NAIA Infra Corp. (NNIC).

“The move is fully supported by the NNIC. There is no date yet as to when this could be implemented since this will require movement of security screening equipment like the X-ray machines,” Marquez said.

BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval told the PNA that the move is likewise a welcome development for them.

“Any action of the airport authorities to improve the area for the convenience of the traveling public will be supported by the BI,” Sandoval said.

NAIA, the country’s main gateway, catered to 50.1 million passengers in 2024. The total was 10.43 percent higher than in 2023 and 5.8 percent more than the pre-pandemic’s tally in 2019.

The airport also handled 293,488 flights in 2024, which was 4.83 percent more than the flights in 2023.