Manila's airports to transition from bad to good

PHILIPPINES - In Brief 27 Mar 2024 by Diwa Guinigundo

---

After years of being touted as one of the worst airports in the world, there might be hope for the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA). Its ill reputation is not surprising: from 2010-2023, the Manila International Airport Authority (MIIA) put in only P27.1 billion as capital expenditure, way behind the spending of our neighbors in the region. Moreover, there have been countless reports of delayed or cancelled flights, long queues, filthy toilets, power outages, and perhaps worst of all, corrupt airport personnel. Recently, NAIA went viral after videos of rats roaming around surfaced, once again attracting the world’s ire and disgust. If the plan of San Miguel’s Ramon S Ang would pan out well, this could spell the end of NAIA’s woes. San Miguel’s project involves the rehabilitation of passenger terminals and airside facilities, the provision of facilities to allow for intermodal transfer at the airport, and the construction of a connection from NAIA terminal 3 to the Metro Manila Subway, a work in progress. The plan also includes eight-level multipurpose buildings adjacent to terminals 1, 2, and 3 to accommodate administrative offices and free 30% of the terminals’ space. Some much-needed parking slots in the thousands will also be added. More recently, it was announced that a new passenger terminal will be erected in three years. The present three terminals are hardly sufficient to accommodate additional space for more check-in counters, immigration desks, custom security and carousels.  NAIA should be future-proofed through a modular plan that would allow it to expand in the next several decades. If the whole project development process for this Public-Private ...