Manila Airport Passport Drama Leads To Strange New Policy

While Filipinos are known for their warmth and hospitality, that mentality doesn’t really spill over to the country’s biggest airport, which is Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila (MNL). The airport has just added an interesting new rule, which I don’t mind, but the response seems like a bit of an overkill.

Manila Airport instructs staff to not touch passports

In many parts of the world, you need to present your passport when entering the terminal, when going through security, etc. That’s the case in Manila, and historically, it was normal to hand security staff your passport, so that they can review it. That’s no longer the case, though.

Security staff at the airport have been advised to no longer touch passengers’ passports, and instead to just look at them while passengers are holding them up. As the airport operator explained in a statement:

“To better protect your travel documents and reduce unnecessary contact, all NAIA security personnel have been instructed not to touch passports during terminal entry and security verification. Passengers will simply be asked to show their valid ID or travel document by holding it up themselves.”

What prompted this passport policy change?

Why are security staff at Manila Airport suddenly not allowed to handle passenger passports? A few weeks ago, an incident went viral, whereby a passenger claimed that her father was denied boarding on a Cebu Pacific flight from Manila to Bali, due to a small tear in his passport.

The passenger claimed that airline staff found the damage during check-in, and then contacted Indonesian immigration authorities, to see if they had to deny the passenger boarding. Immigration authorities stated that a damaged passport would make the traveler inadmissible to the country, and therefore, he was denied boarding.

Lots of people have damaged passports, so this seems like a situation where this was caused by an overzealous check-in agent who checked with authorities. Of course if they contact Indonesian authorities and ask if they’ll accept a damaged passport, they’ll say no. But if this person just showed up in Bali with that passport, I can’t imagine they would’ve been denied entry.

So this policy change on handling of passports is being triggered by the widespread concern in the Philippines over passport condition.

I’m of two minds here. On the one hand, this response seems like a bit of an overkill, when we’re talking about one person being denied boarding, out of millions of travelers, let alone that there’s no evidence that any airport staff caused the tear. On the other hand, I’m always amazed by how aggressively some airport folks (whether security personnel or check-in agents) handle passports, and I do wish they would be a bit more careful.

Bottom line

Manila Airport has a new policy, whereby security staff have been instructed to no longer touch passports. Instead, passengers are being told to just hold up their travel documents, for officials to see. This policy change follows a viral incident a few weeks back, whereby a traveler with a tear in his passport was denied boarding, causing an increase in concern about passport condition among passengers.

What do you make of Manila Airport’s new policy on passport handling?