The Bureau of Immigration (BI) said that it noted a rise in international travel during the month of June, and expects more in July.
BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco attributes the rise in travelers to the school break, allowing families to have their vacations abroad.
“Revenge travel is real and is still very much evident. After the pandemic, a lot of people are itching to travel,” said Tansingco. “After the end of classes, a lot of families saw the opportunity to take their vacations,” he added.
The BI also observed an increase in international departures in June compared to the months of April and May.
In April, a total of 946,092 departed via the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) terminals, while in May, there were 979,720 departures.
The BI said that they recorded 1,072,651 for the month of June, and expect the number to rise or remain high in July.
“In April, we only saw an average of around 32,000 passengers a day, but in June that number rose to around 36,000,” reported Tansingco.
He advised international travelers to arrive early and check in at least 3 hours prior to their flights to give ample time for airport procedures.
“We are assuring that all our counters are fully manned, and our officers are working doubly hard to process everyone in a timely manner,” said Tansingco.
He added that he is thankful to the airport management who pledged to expand the immigration area and add more counters for the BI to be able to service more travelers.
Tansingco also shared that 35 new immigration officers recently finished their training under the Philippine immigration academy, and are set to be deployed to the BI’s frontline offices.
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