WITH an expected influx of about 12 million passengers this year, the Manila International Airport Authority (Miaa) has accepted a donation of 1,500 baggage trolleys and 12 “jumbo” carts to add to an existing 1,500, hoping that this would be enough to prevent the shortage of pushcarts during peak arrivals and departures.

Miaa general manager Alfonso Cusi said the brand-new German-made trolleys are a welcome relief, at a time when passenger traffic all over Asia is booming.

“We are happy that there are those in the private sector who are willing to be partners with us in our quest for better service,” Cusi said, adding that a German firm donated the pushcarts at a cost of P50 million in return for free advertising space at the two airport passenger terminals.

The pushcarts are estimated to cost P30,000 each, with a capacity of 550 kilograms, while the jumbo carts can hold 750 kilograms.

The units are equipped with an electronic signaling device that would enable porters to retrieve or trace the locations of the pushcarts around the terminal for easy recovery.

To assist the Miaa in the proper care and handling of the trolleys, Sleipner Industries Inc., the German firm that donated the carts, agreed to train the airport porters and maintain the carts for the next four years.

The German firm was subjected to rigid evaluation by the Miaa management in accordance with existing rules governing donations to the government, Cusi said.

The Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 (Naia 1) has the biggest requirement for trolleys owing to the high passenger volume that it serves daily, averaging 21,000 travelers.

Cusi said both terminals recorded a total of 10.7 million passengers last year, and he expects an increase of about 2 million passengers this year.

Under the agreement, Sleipner is granted exclusive advertising rights to the pushcarts and trolleys for four years, at the end of which ownership of them would automatically transfer to the Miaa.

Sleipner supplies trolleys to known international airports in the world like the John Kennedy Airport in New York, Chep Lap Kok in Hong Kong and Changi Airport in Singapore, among others.

This brand of pushcarts could also be found in Friedrichshafen Airport in Germany, Bahrain International Airport and Bucharest International Airport in Romania.

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WITH an expected influx of about 12 million passengers this year, the Manila International Airport Authority (Miaa) has accepted a donation of 1,500 baggage trolleys and 12 “jumbo” carts to add to an existing 1,500, hoping that this would be enough to prevent the shortage of pushcarts during peak arrivals and departures.