Ninoy Aquino International Airport
Ninoy Aquino International Airport, also known as Manila Airport and formerly known as Manila International Airport, is the main international airport serving Metro Manila in the Philippines. Located between the cities of Pasay and Parañaque, about south of Manila proper and southwest of Makati, it is the main gateway for travelers to the Philippines. It serves as a hub for Philippine Airlines and its regional subsidiary PAL Express. It is also the main operating base for AirSWIFT, Cebgo, Cebu Pacific, and Philippines AirAsia.
Opened in 1948, the airport was officially renamed for former Philippine senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr., who was assassinated at the airport on August 21, 1983. NAIA is managed by the Manila International Airport Authority, an agency of the Department of Transportation. It is currently operated by the New NAIA Infrastructure Corporation, a private consortium of companies led by San Miguel Corporation.
In 2024, NAIA served more than 50 million passengers, 47% more than the previous year and an all-time record high, making it the busiest airport in the Philippines, the 17th busiest in Asia, and the 38th busiest in the world. The airport is operating beyond its designed capacity of 35 million passengers, clogging air traffic and delaying flights. As a result, it has consistently been cited as one of the world's worst airports. In response, the airport’s operations and maintenance were privatized on September 14, 2024, with responsibility transferred to NNIC, which will also oversee the airport’s rehabilitation.
Both NAIA and Clark International Airport in Pampanga serve the Greater Manila Area. Additionally, two nearby projects, meant to reduce congestion at NAIA, are underway: one being the New Manila International Airport in Bulakan, Bulacan, and the other being to upgrade Sangley Point Airport in Cavite City into an international airport.
History
Early history
Manila's original airport, Grace Park Airfield in Grace Park, Caloocan, opened in 1935. It was the city's first commercial airport and was used by the Philippine Aerial Taxi Company for its first domestic routes.In July 1937, Nielson Airport, located in the land in Makati, also then in Rizal, was inaugurated and served as the gateway to Manila; its runways now form Ayala Avenue and Paseo de Roxas. Following World War II and Philippine independence, Grace Park Airfield ceased operations, while Nielson Airport continued to operate until it was decommissioned in 1948.
Airport operations were moved to the current site, Nichols Field, due to the flatter terrain, expanse of greenfield land, and the existing USAF base runway, which could be used for the airport. The original one-story bungalow terminal was built adjacent to the runway and served as Terminal 4.
Early operations
In 1954, the airport's longer international runway and associated taxiways were built, and in 1956, construction was started on a control tower and an international terminal building. The new terminal was designed by Federico Ilustre and was built on the current site of Terminal 2. It was inaugurated on September 22, 1961. On January 22, 1972, a fire caused substantial damage to the terminal, resulting in six casualties.A slightly smaller terminal was built the following year. This second terminal would serve as the country's international terminal until 1981 when it was converted to a domestic terminal, upon the completion and opening of Terminal 1, a new, higher-capacity terminal. Another fire damaged the old international terminal in May 1985.
The development of the Manila International Airport, which includes Terminal 1, was approved by Executive Order No. 381 immediately after the former airport was destroyed by a fire a month earlier. The project's feasibility study and master plan were conducted by the Airways Engineering Corporation in 1973, supported by a US$29.6 million loan from the Asian Development Bank. In 1974, the designs were approved by the Philippine government and the ADB. Construction began in the second quarter of 1978 on a site close to the original Manila Airport, within the jurisdiction of Parañaque, then a municipality of Metro Manila.
Assassination of Ninoy Aquino
On August 21, 1983, oppositionist politician Ninoy Aquino attempted to return to the Philippines from exile in the United States, hoping to convince president Ferdinand Marcos to let go of political power after having held his position for nearly two decades. Aquino was assassinated mere moments after exiting his plane at Terminal 1's Gate 8. Aviation Security Command personnel escorted Aquino out of the plane to the tarmac, where an agency van awaited. A single gunshot was fired, identified as the one that killed him, with several more shots shots following, killing the alleged assassin, Rolando Galman. Seconds later, gunfire erupted, causing chaos in the plane, the tarmac, and the terminal.The incident triggered constant protests for the next three years, and along with the crash of the Philippine economy earlier in 1983, is credited as one of the key events which led to the People Power Revolution in 1986 which removed Marcos from power.
Four years after the incident, during the presidency of Ninoy's widow Corazon Aquino in 1987, Republic Act No. 6639 was enacted without executive approval, renaming the airport in Ninoy's honor. Presently, a body mark of Aquino's assassination is on display at the departures area of Terminal 1, while the spot at Gate 8 where he was killed has a memorial plaque.
Expansion and growth
Plans for a new terminal were conceived in 1989 when the Department of Transportation and Communications commissioned the French company Aéroports de Paris to conduct a feasibility study to expand capacity, which recommended to build two new terminals.In 1991, the French government provided a 30-million-franc soft loan to the Philippine government to fund the detailed architectural and engineering design. ADP finished the design in 1992. The Japanese government followed suit in 1994, providing an soft loan to the Philippine government to finance 75% of the construction costs and the entirety of the supervision costs. The construction of the terminal officially began on December 11, 1995, and the Philippine government took over the completed terminal on December 28, 1998. The terminal became fully operational in 1999.
The construction of Terminal 3 was proposed by Asia's Emerging Dragon Corporation. AEDP eventually lost the bid to PairCargo and its partner Fraport AG of Germany. Originally scheduled to open in 2002, a contract dispute between the government of the Philippines and the project's main contractor, Philippine International Air Terminals Co. Inc., delayed its completion. While the original agreement allowed PairCargo and Fraport AG to operate the airport for several years after its construction, followed by a government handover, the government offered to buy out Fraport AG for US$400 million, to which Fraport agreed. However, before the terminal could be completed, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo called the contract "onerous" and formed a committee to evaluate the buyout agreement. The contracts were declared null and void by the Supreme Court in May 2003, the Philippine government took over the terminal in December 2004. Piatco sued the Philippine government before the International Chamber of Commerce, while Fraport separately sued the government at the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes. The ICSID decided in August 2007 in favor of the government, while in January 2012, the ICC case became final and executory in favor of the government. Terminal 3 partially opened in 2008 and became fully operational in 2014, serving Cebu Pacific and most international airlines.
Passenger traffic at NAIA grew rapidly in the early 2010s, significantly outpacing the airport’s designed capacity and contributing to chronic congestion and operational issues. In 2012, NAIA handled approximately 31.88 million passengers, exceeding its optimal capacity of about 30 million passengers per year. By 2015, passenger throughput had risen further to around 36.6 million, surpassing the airport’s maximum capacity of 35 million passengers annually.
In October 2015, reports of an extortion scam concerning bullets planted by airport security officials in airline passengers' luggage, dubbed by the local media the tanim-bala scam) spread, causing a political controversy. Malacañang Palace and the Philippine Senate investigated the incidents. In April 2016, a similar incident occurred.
Terminal reassignments
In February 2018, the Department of Transportation proposed the rationalization of flights to decongest the terminals of NAIA. The original plan called for Terminals 1 and 3 exclusively handling international flights, while Terminals 2 and 4 would facilitate domestic flights. Despite initial plans for implementation in August 2018, the MIAA announced its deferment a month prior due to "unforeseen operational constraints". The plan continued to be under review with no official implementation date set; however, some Philippine Airlines flights to North America were relocated to Terminal 1 from Terminal 2 in July to accommodate the latter's rehabilitation. By October, four international airlines transferred operations to Terminal 3, freeing up space for United States flight operations at Terminal 1. Subsequently, more airlines from Terminal 1 were scheduled to relocate to Terminal 3.On December 1, 2022, MIAA officially began to implement the Schedule and Terminal Assignment Rationalization program. From April to June 2023, eight foreign airlines moved to Terminal 3. These changes were designed to offer international passengers at Terminals 1 and 3 a wider selection of food and retail outlets, and additional time for duty-free shopping. After PAL completed moving all its international flights to T1 on June 16, 2023, Philippines AirAsia and Royal Air Philippines began operating from Terminal 2 on July 1, thereby reverting the terminal to its original domestic design. While T2 is being expanded, Cebu Pacific's domestic and international operations remained at Terminal 3.