Over years I had railed against this silly terminal fee in the Philippines. Anywhere in the world all the airport taxes are included in the flight-ticket – but not in the Philippines. You had to pay the terminal fee at a counter, got a ticket stapled on your boarding pass and then half of the ticket had been torn off at another counter.

That has been in the past!

Citing the need to make flying convenient for domestic flight passengers, transportation chief Mar Roxas said airlines will soon integrate domestic terminal fees in their plane fares.

“Starting August 1, domestic terminal fees will be included in the tickets. This removes the need to line up one more time in airports,” Roxas said in a press briefing yesterday.

Currently, airline passengers queue to check in at various Philippine airports, then join another queue to pay for the terminal fee, before the final security checks at the airport gates.

Only the Philippines practices separate collection of terminal fees, largely due to accounting requirements of the government and because airlines didn’t want to administer exemptions to senior citizens, among others.

Terminal fees paid by airline passengers finance expansions, maintenance, or purchases of new equipment at particular airports.

Terminal fee for domestic passengers at NAIA is PHP 200, while those taking international flights pay PHP 550. (The international flights fee might go up to PHP 750 again.)

[Editor’s comment:]
It’s like God had heard my begging. But maybe it’s only Mar Roxas who had to queue up behind me .
Anyway, it’s a not expected progress for tourism in the Philippines. 
But please don’t think that flying becomes cheaper now. You will only find a new tax item on your airline ticket bill.