Customs Commissioner Ariel F. Nepomuceno is conducting an inventory of warehousing facilities in the vicinity of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) to get a clearer picture of the industry’s overall capacity as the peak air cargo season approaches.
Nepomuceno said the Bureau of Customs (BOC) does not have data on the aggregate warehousing capacity near the country’s premier international airport.
He suspects that air cargo may have been concentrated at People’s Air Cargo & Warehousing Co. (Paircargo) due to some marketing campaigns, but said there could be other players in the area with capacity to handle additional cargo volumes.
According to Nepomuceno, Paircargo was already handling 80 percent of the air cargo volume even before the congestion occurred in late May this year. To ease the congestion, the BOC granted Paircargo permits to temporarily operate in three nearby locations, including the Duty Free area and the Columbia Complex.
“But the long term solution is more players and more spaces,” he said.
At present, only Paircargo and Cargohaus of AC Logistics are servicing NAIA cargo.
The air cargo congestion that occurred in late May began after the closure of the Philippine Skylanders International (PSI) warehouse at NAIA. The closure was initiated by the airport operator, New NAIA Infra Corp. (NNIC), as it reclaimed the premises for the airport’s redevelopment.
Nepomuceno is working to ensure there will be no repeat of the congestion that affected imports by semiconductor and electronics companies, especially with the “BER” months approaching.
