BoI Info Bureau Beefs Up Immigration Service at NAIA3

Manila, Philippines, July 3, 2015---Bureau of Immigration (BI) spokesperson Elaine Tan says that they will implement a new deployment plan at the airport counters to avoid a repeat of the horrendous long queues which happened at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport terminal 3 (NAIA3) last Thursday morning.

Effective July 1, the Bureau implemented a new personnel deployment scheme in NAIA 3 with 7 shifts instead of the usual 3 shifts based on the expected volume of passengers. While July 1 was a transition period, all passengers were timely cleared and none missed their flights due to long immigration lines.

With the new plan, expect a better waiting period at the counters, assures Tan.

Tan admitted that the bureau failed to anticipate the unusual spike in tourist departures that day. Reports show that the long queue began at around 5 am when only eight Immigration Officers were left to process a total of 1,767 passengers for 11 flights.

“More and more tourists are coming in and out of our country. For us at the bureau of Immigration, this adds to the challenge. In spite of our numbers, we will ensure a more efficient deployment of our people so that we are responsive to the increasing demands at the counters. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience that this incident may have caused to the travelers. We request for your kind understanding and consideration,” said Tan.

Bureau chief Siegfred Mison have called on the terminal head and the duty supervisor for their explanation as to why they failed to manage the queue.

“We are still getting all the facts from terminal head Chem Siguan and the duty supervisor. We apologize for this temporary inconvenience AND firmly commit to the public that such events, if inexcusable, will not happen again considering that we are MAXIMIZING the number of immigration inspectors during peak hours,” Mison adds.

Due to the limited number of immigration officers, those assigned at the arrival counters are directed to augment the workforce at the departure area whenever possible. “However, due to the heavy passenger density at the arrival area, the scheme was not possible,” added Tan.

Despite the limited resources, BI promised the public that the same incident will not happen again. The BI has formulated a new schedule to maximize its workforce during peak hours, by adjusting the duty shifts to seven instead of the existing four shifts, with overlaps between shifts.

BI likewise reminded the traveling public to be at the airport at least three hours before their estimated departure time, and must be cleared at the immigration inspection at least 45 minutes before boarding time.

“Our immigration officers call out passengers whose flights are about to depart, so it is best to approach the immigration duty supervisor if we know that we are about to be late,” advised Tan.”

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Here is an update of NAIA Terminal 3 this morning, 04 July 2015 at 04:00am and 05:30am. We have managed the influx of passengers through our new management scheme. We will keep you updated in the next few days.

 

Very true, but 7 lines is surely better than 3. What I always disliked about flying out is waiting in line to get your boarding pass. You better show up at least 4 hours early to the airport if you are flying international. I honestly have no idea what takes so long as every time I get to the counter it takes only a couple minutes.....it's not unusual to see people standing at a counter for 5-10 minutes. Maybe they need to verify visa requirements for Filipinos.