LAST week, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) installed electronic gates (E-Gates) at the Francisco Bangoy International Airport (FBIA), also known as the Davao International Airport, in a bid to improve and speed up the arrival clearance of passengers.
To be initially used for Filipinos arriving from international flights, the automated process of the E-Gate will give a sticker on the passports as they arrive in Davao instead of them passing BI personnel. The E-Gate will cut down the arrival clearance process to eight to 10 seconds from the 45-second transaction with immigration officers.
This is a welcome development for the improvement of the FBIA. With more connections being made to Davao City from other destinations, we can expect more people coming to the city.
However, the government must act fast in improving FBIA, which is considered one of the major gateways to Mindanao.
As it sees more and more passengers everyday, we can expect that there could be a congestion at the airport in the near future.
The government should start planning on how it will deal with an influx of passengers going in and out of the airport. Probably it could start by further improving the comfort of passengers by offering comfortable seats and bigger departure areas. Equipment could be upgraded to speed up transactions and processes at the airport.
It might also be time to hasten the creation of the Davao International Airport Authority, House Bill 2002, which was filed by Davao City 2nd District Representative Mylene J. Garcia-Albano in 2016. Despite already being approved at the committee level in Congress, the proposed bill has yet to be enacted.
After seeing what the Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority has done to improve the airport in Cebu, it might be time for the Congress to push for the creation of the Davao International Airport Authority as this could possibly help improve the airport in the city.
For the long term, the government could start considering establishing a new airport somewhere in the region or in the city. However, this will take sometime before it can be materialized.
As the city continues to grow, there will be more people coming here to explore new opportunities. With the influx of visitors to Davao City, it is time that one of our major gateways is improved.