TERMINAL FEE. Photo shows the Terminal 2 of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA). The airport management, GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corporation, announced that beginning Sept. 1, 2019, international passenger service charge (terminal fee) will be included in the tickets bought or re-issued outside the airport. (Photo courtesy of Mactan Cebu International Airport website)
CEBU CITY -- The management of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) on Thursday announced that terminal fee for international passengers will be included in the airline tickets for international flights sold outside the airport.
Avigael Ratcliffe, corporate communications junior manager of GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corporation (GMCAC), said that the new policy on international passenger service charge (IPSC), also known as terminal fee, will take effect beginning Sunday, September 1.
Ratcliffe said that within a year from Sept. 1, “passengers who have been issued or reissued tickets without the integrated IPSC shall pay the IPSC at the terminal fee counters inside Terminal 2.”
The airport management established a procedure in dealing with tickets with terminal fees integrated in the ticket and those tickets that have no IPSC, especially those bought (issued or re-issued) before September 1.
“At the check-in counter, the airline representative will verify through their system if the IPSC has already been integrated. If paid, airline representative shall issue the boarding pass with a PAID stamp and a non-revenue receipt,” Ratcliffe said in a statement sent to the Philippine News Agency (PNA).
“If the ticket was issued or reissued prior to September 1, 2019, the airline representative shall issue a boarding pass without the PAID stamp and direct the passenger to the terminal fee counters. At the terminal fee counter, the teller shall collect the IPSC payment from the passenger and issue a receipt attached to the boarding pass,” the statement read.
The airport’s communications officer reiterated that there are types of international passengers who are exempted from the collection of terminal fee, as mandated by the law.
She said that children below two years old, with or without any airline ticket, as well as overseas contract workers are exempt from the terminal fee.
Passengers whose entry was denied is also allowed to leave off payment of the IPSC, she also said.
Other passengers who may not pay for the international terminal fee are airline crew, diplomats, athletes who obtained official endorsement from the Philippine Sports Commission, Muslim passengers travelling to Mecca on Hajj, and any persons as may be specified by the MCIA in mutual agreement with GMCAC or “as may be specified by legal requirement.
Passengers who are exempt from payment of international terminal fee but the IPSC has already been integrated in the tickets they bought, may claim for refund at the terminal fee counter, she said.
However, exempt passengers need to present at the counter valid overseas exemption certificate (OEC), exemption certificate for pilgrims, athletes, and others, including the boarding pass.
Request for refunds, she also said, shall be processed at the terminal fee counters on the day of departure upon presentation of boarding pass stamped “PAID,” valid exemption documents.
Ratcliffe said exempt passengers will be refunded in full amount of the IPSC integrated in the ticket bought prior to Sept. 1.
She said airlines are responsible for the processing of the refunds for the unused tickets, subject to the airline ticket terms and conditions. (PNA)
