All over the world, the most efficient and passenger-friendly airports are those that allow a wide range of options for accessing the airport, with public transportation as the most attractive and efficient option, according to NAIA Infrastructure Corporation (NNIC) president Ramon Ang.

This is why the San Miguel Corporation (SMC)-led consortium with the 15-year concession for the Ninoy Aquino International Airport has disclosed that the country’s premier port of entry will need to expand and improve the way people get in and out of the airport.

However, the consortium’s plans for fixing this problem have not been convincing since SMC’s proposals focus on helping car-users with their airport access and parking.

It has also talked about expanding the NAIA Expressway, SMC’s toll road leading to the airport; penalizing cars lingering or waiting in the drop-off/pickup areas; and expanding the number of parking spaces, redesigning the parking lots at the NAIA and increasing the hourly and daily charges for parking at the airport.

“This is not what we need,” airport authorities pointed out as based on the principle of induced demand which often results in the accommodation of more cars that lead to greater congestion.

“For SMC to focus on the needs of car users is to be expected, because its business interests are in tollways (SMC Infrastructure) and gas stations (Petron). But SMC shouldn’t allow its commercial self-interest to dictate the transportation choices available to the public, especially for an important facility such as NAIA,” they added.

In every major airport around the world, getting to the airport using a train or bus, even with lots of luggage, is the real and popular choice. The new NAIA concessionaire should therefore focus on this aspect of airport operations.

NAIA also needs an efficient bus service to and from the airport. Today, it is served by the Premium Airport Bus (also known as Ube Express). This service should be expanded to reach more destinations around Greater Manila.

A good model for a dependable bus service would be the airport bus services from Narita Airport in Tokyo, which operate with high frequency (departure every 20-30 minutes) and with many routes and drop-off/pickup points at major hotels throughout the city.

This means that a passenger can book a bus ride to the airport from many major hotels around Tokyo. In Manila, the airport bus services could include terminals and shopping malls as stops.