All the 42 airports operated by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) are now on high alert for the upcoming holiday season, an executive said Monday.
“CAAP has tapped the Office of Transportation Security [OTS] and the Philippine National Police Aviation Security Group to provide additional personnel and to strengthen security measures before the upcoming rush of passengers,” CAAP spokesperson Eric Apolonio said Monday.
Coordination with airline operators and other government agencies operating at the airports was also done.
OTS Administrator Ma. O Aplasca said that since they only have a few personnel in CAAP airports, there will be longer working hours for the screening personnel to cope with the increased volume of passengers this Christmas season.
CAAP advised travelers not to bring prohibited items, and to stow all belongings in their carry-on baggage for faster processing at the screening checkpoints.
According to Aplasca, passengers should take note of prohibited items such as guns, sharp pointed objects, chemicals and other toxic substances.
Meanwhile, CAAP said it is optimistic with the uptick in the travel demand, and cited a 7- to 10-percent annual increase in the passenger volume being recorded previously.
From January to October this year, CAAP airports welcomed 16 million passengers. A probable bigger passenger surge is expected this holiday season.
Last year, a total of 5,136,075 passengers traveled to CAAP airports. Of this, 1,007,842 traveled in December.
Pre-pandemic or in 2019, travelers at CAAP airports reached 29,258,258. Over 2.5 million passengers were logged in December that year.