The New NAIA Infrastructure Corporation has ambitious plans to improve Manila's main hub and remove its "world's worst airport" tag. - Photo: New NAIA Infrastructure Corporation
MANILA: Flying out of the Philippines’ main international airport used to mean packing a whole lot of extra patience alongside your passport.
But with a private consortium now helming the controls, passengers are starting to see hints of smoother skies ahead, even as pockets of turbulence remain.
Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) has long been notorious for its lengthy waiting times, power failures and even bedbug-infested rattan chairs.
On New Year’s Day in 2023, an airport-wide power outage caused widespread flight cancellations and flight delays, grounding thousands of passengers for hours.
The airport, which opened in 1948, has been operating beyond its designed capacity of 35 million passengers for years, with clogged air traffic and delayed flights resulting in it being consistently ranked as one of the world’s worst airports.
Most recently, NAIA came dead last in a study released in November 2024 by Australian price monitoring firm Compare the Market, which assessed 61 major airports based on their accessibility, cleanliness and efficiency.
But change is in the air since the New NAIA Infrastructure Corporation (NNIC) took over management and operations in September 2024.
The NNIC consortium led by Filipino tycoon Ramon Ang’s San Miguel Corporation won the 170.6 billion peso (S$4 billion), 15-year concession deal from the Philippine government to overhaul the 77-year-old gateway’s ageing facilities.
Under the deal, the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), which used to operate NAIA, now serves as airport regulator.
The consortium aims to double the airport’s capacity to 62 million passengers annually and improve air traffic movements to 48 per hour from 30 to 40 currently.
NAIA tallied a record high 50 million passengers in 2024, surpassing pre-pandemic levels, according to NNIC president Ang.
“More Filipinos are flying, and more visitors are coming to the Philippines. This growth is a clear sign that confidence in air travel has returned,” said Ang in a statement on Jan 2.
‘Cautiously optimistic’
There have been some improvements in recent months.
These include opening a lounge at NAIA exclusively for Filipino migrant workers, adding passenger boarding bridges, and having a centralised ride-hailing and taxi hub at Terminal 3. More pick-up and drop-off areas were also set up at three of the four passenger terminals to ease traffic congestion.
Despite improvements, NAIA still encountered several power and system disruptions in the last 12 months, leaving travellers unsure if the privatisation would do much to actually improve services at the airport.
“I’m cautiously optimistic about these efforts because what NAIA needs is a major overhaul,” Clarice Santos, a 31-year-old non-governmental organisation worker, told The Straits Times.
A frequent business traveller, Ms Santos said the improvements so far are laudable, but that should have been the bare minimum for an international gateway like NAIA.
She gave the thumbs up to the moving walkways at NAIA’s boarding gates for her flight to Indonesia in November, as these were usually under maintenance whenever she travelled in the past. But she still had to line up for almost an hour just to clear immigration.
However, her biggest gripe remains NAIA’s poor connectivity – there is no rail link to the capital city or suburbs, so travellers can commute only by public bus, taxi or private car to the airport, thus having to endure Manila’s perennial gridlock.
NNIC said it plans to eventually link the airport to the Manila Subway, an underground rapid transit line in the Metro Manila area that is expected to be completed by 2027. Also in the pipeline are more escalators and toilets, improved air-conditioning and Wi-Fi connection, and better passenger services and flood-mitigation efforts.
Since November, Terminal 4 has been closed for renovations and repairs, and is expected to reopen by February 2025. The NNIC said there are plans to expand Terminals 1 and 2, and the construction of a new Terminal 5 is also in the works, in order to meet increasing passenger capacity.
A better airport, but at what cost?
The consortium’s plans are ambitious, but passengers must pay a price for improved services at NAIA.
The NNIC has increased overnight airport parking fees from 300 pesos to 1,200 pesos since the last quarter of 2024, saying it was necessary to deter misuse of parking spaces. It will also raise terminal fees for NAIA by September 2025 – departing passengers on international fights will have to pay 950 pesos (S$22), from 550 pesos, while those on domestic flights will have to pay 390 pesos, from 200 pesos.
Filipino consumer group AirportWatch spokesman Ren Delos Santos said the higher fees are a “cash grab”, as the NNIC is already burdening passengers when airport improvements have been minimal so far.
“The NNIC said they have to raise the prices because the rates are the same in South Korea and Singapore and we’re only benchmarking with top global airports. But are the prices justified? That’s the main question,” Delos Santos told ST.
Singapore Changi Airport currently charges departing passengers S$65.20 in fees and taxes. South Korea’s Incheon airport imposes a fee of 28,000 won (S$26) that includes a passenger airport fee and departure tax.
“We are not anti-development, but we are pro-Filipino interests – and that’s what we are trying to protect right now,” he added.
Even local carriers are worried that the additional terminal fees will discourage Filipinos from traveling. Executives of Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific and AirAsia Philippines have asked the Marcos government to intervene and convince the consortium not to increase terminal fees.
MIAA spokesman Jeff David said these concerns are valid, but he appealed for the public’s understanding as the government works with the consortium to improve NAIA.
“We don’t discount their concerns,” David told ST. “But we have to face the reality that any improvements that are scheduled for the airport will cost money.
He urged airport users to manage their expectations, acknowledging that it will take time to revamp NAIA and make the passenger experience a better one.
Travellers like Ms Santos can only hope that the consortium’s plans for NAIA will be realised sooner than later, saying: “The way you treat your passengers and the way you treat the airport at large are already a good preview of how you will treat people within the country... So I really hope they fix the airport”. - The Straits Times/ANN
