Only private vehicles under the app-based ride-hailing service Grab will be allowed to pick up and drop off passengers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and not taxis, airport authorities clarified Thursday, March 10.
This came after the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) and Grab on the same day signed an agreement to allow passengers to book via GrabCar while in NAIA beginning March 14.
MIAA spokesperson Dave de Castro said for now, only GrabCa– and not GrabTaxi — will be allowed to operate since the service is still in its experimental phase.
?This first year of implementation will be experimental then we will be assessing operations as we go through the month,? De Castro said.
There will be booths placed in designated areas at the terminals where booking agents will assist passengers. Even non-app users will be allowed to make reservations at the booths.
Pick-up locations in Terminal 1 will be at the main arrival curbside, pick-up location in Terminal 2 will be at the inner arrival curbside between bays 7 and 8, pick-up location in Terminal 3 will be at the secondary arrival curbside between bays 5 and 6, and pick-up location in Terminal 4 will be at the curbside.
There will also be a waiting period policy of only two minutes. If the passenger has not arrived yet, GrabCar drivers will have to leave. With this, GrabCar advised passengers to book rides when ready to board.
GrabCar will be charging passengers with the same base fare in all its other pick-up points at P30 base fare while P12 will be charged per succeeding kilometer.
De Castro said that its Grab?s rival, Uber will also eventually start operating at NAIA once it completes its accreditation requirements.
Beginning Friday, around 24 Grab personnel already will be deployed to NAIA and undergo an airport security seminar.
Senior assistant general manager Vicente Guerzon, who admitted that there remains to be a shortage in public utility vehicles (PUVs) in NAIA, welcomed the addition of Grab to airport passengers? mode transport options.
?There are around 1,500 metered taxis in NAIA but even if we have these accredited vehicles, there?s still the need for us to have more transport vehicles here,? Guerzon said in the press conference. — PNA
