MANILA International Airport Authority (MIAA) general manager Cesar Chiong has set a timeline of 12 to 15 months to fulfill his vision of digitalizing the premier terminals of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
Recently, Chiong spearheaded the launching of the digitized check-in processes of the Cebu Pacific (CEB) which he sees as the start of the NAIA’s digitalization project coming to fruition.
While CEB started it, GM Chiong said that the same will be done all across airlines, adding that in 12 to 15 months, all passengers will be able to experience a similar initiative.
Based on his plan, GM Chiong bared that he wants digitalization on specific aspects of traveling beginning with check in bagdrop.
Following this is the aspect of security screening so that once a passenger enters the airport, there is no need to present his ticket or boarding pass since all that has to be done is to have his QR code scanned which will make it known that the passenger is already in the airport or terminal passenger. This will be known as ‘passenger reconciliation system.
Lastly, there is also a self-boarding project that will push the use of QR code when going through the boarding gate.
He said the terms of reference will be ready by this month.
During the walk-through of the media on the initial digitalization at NAIA Terminal 3, GM Chiong lauded what he described as the ‘great initiative’ taken by Cebu Pacific to provide convenience on the ‘airport experience’ of air travellers.
The airport GM personally went through the entire processes introduced by CEB. He was accompanied by GM senior assistant general manager Bryan Co and NAIA T3 Manager Lauro Francisco and the latter’st assistant manager Bernald Joseph Juare.
From the CEB side were Vice President for marketing Candice Iyog, spokesperson Carmina Romero, Corporate Social Responsibility Specialist Roxanne Gochuico, CEB external PR representative Malou Reyes, Cebu Pacific Vice President for Customer Service Operations Lei Apostol and station manager Michael Diorissimo Madamba.
Under the new system, passengers who were able to do online check-in may enter through a ‘dedicated gate.’ From the first entrance to NAIA T3 Departures (Online Check-In Entrance), customers who checked in online may go straight to the boarding gate.
Should they need to check-in their bags, they can go straight to the ‘self-bag tag kiosks’ at Isle E, have their boarding passes scanned at the numerous machines placed there for the purpose and then print and attach the tags in their bags.
From there, domestic passengers may proceed to the online check-in bag drop counters E16-E29, while international passengers may check the counters assigned to them by checking on the flight information monitors near Isles D and E.
Meanwhile, passengers who did not check- in online may enter Gates 1 and 2 and use any of the 21 check-in kiosks that are found between Isles D and E. They may also print bag tags and use the bag drop counters from D16-D29 and from E1-E15.
VP Iyog said CEB is also ready to respond to the needs of passengers who have ‘same-day flights’ via the operation of its 24/7 help desk in its ticket office near NAIA T3 Arrival Gate 6.
CEB, she said, also now has a ‘repack area’ where passengers may check if their luggage is within the baggage weight limit, doing away with the scenario where a passenger would have to scramble for things to take out of their luggage once it turns out to be overweight. They can now do this at the ‘repack area’.
GM Chiong expressed gladness on the first steps taken by CEB toward his planned digitalization project, as he stressed that everything should not depend on airport management alone.
He believes that everything that concerns efforts geared toward providing ease of travel among passengers must be a collaboration among all stakeholders, specially airlines.
The GM is encouraging air travelers to check-in online before going to the airport to make their journey easier or more seamless.
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