NAIA fees exempt from gov't-imposed airport discounts – lawyers' group

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March 30, 2026 | 6:00pm

MANILA, Philippines — Discounts and fee reductions implemented at several airports amid rising fuel costs cannot be applied to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) due to its public-private partnership arrangement.

This is according to a group of lawyers who bemoaned the exclusion of NAIA from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines's move to reduce passenger service charges.

Lawyers Joel Butuyan, Antonio la Viña, Soledad Deriquito Mawis, Roger Rayel and Jose Mari Benjamin Francisco Tirol noted that this is due to NAIA's corporate status outside the jurisdiction of CAAP.

This was after the Department of Transportation and the Manila International Airport Authority ceded regulatory control over fees under the concession agreement with San Miguel Corp.’s New NAIA Infra Corp.

Legal challenge. In a petition, the lawyers challenged the Revised Administrative Order No. 1 issued by the DOTr and MIAA that allowed the NNIC's takeover of NAIA, the country's main gateway.

Prior to the petition, the group initially sought a temporary restraining order on the privatization move on April 7, 2025, and have since filed an urgent reiterative motion before the Supreme Court.

The group argued that the current setup creates unequal treatment among passengers.

The exclusion of NAIA from fee reductions, they said, reflects "gross inequality and discrimination" and underscores what they described as the order’s "unconstitutionality and illegality."

Fee increases, control limits

Under the new concessionaire, NAIA terminal fees were increased in 2025, with international passenger service charges rising from P550 to P950 and domestic fees from P200 to P390.

The petitioners said the operator took over NAIA in September 2024 before undertaking major construction, allowing it to collect revenues early in the concession period.

They also noted that NAIA accounts for about 80% of air travelers, amplifying the impact of fee increases.

The issue comes as fuel prices continue to rise following tensions involving the United States, Israel and Iran, pushing up travel costs.

While the government has introduced fuel subsidies and toll discounts to ease the burden, it has limited control over petroleum prices and concession-based airport fees.