Arriving passengers queue at the immigration counters of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 on Sunday, August 5, 2018. (File photo by GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
MANILA, Philippines 鈥� The Bureau of Immigration (BI) is working to improve travel convenience by making airline details in sync with airport electronic gate information, Commissioner Norman Tansingco said Thursday.
Tansingco said the bureau was planning to procure more electronic gates to replace more than 25 percent of manual operations in the country鈥檚 major international airports.
He explained that under a new system, travelers would be able to skip the manual scanning of their boarding passes.
鈥淚nstead of printing a sticker to be attached on the passport, passengers will receive an email acknowledging their arrival,鈥� Tansingco also said.
鈥淭his is the best practice that we are emulating from other countries,鈥� he added.
READ: BI eyes more e-gates to replace manual counters
The BI chief disclosed that his agency received reports that some passengers could not use the airport鈥檚 electronic gates when their flight records had not been synced, prompting travelers to go through the regular counters.
READ: BI sets sights on further modernization of operations
鈥淲e thank the public for their cooperation and understanding as we navigate through the birth pains of this evolving technology to ease immigration processing,鈥� Tansingco said.