NAIA’s improved ranking welcomed

THE Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) on Thursday welcomed news that the Ninoy Aquino International Airport - carded from an online survey’s list of World’s Worst Airports.

NAIA Terminal 1 over the weekend was reported to have shed off its being 1st in the “World’s Worst Airport” list from 2011 to 2013 to only 8th in the “Worst Airports in Asia’ list this year.

In the same survey, three airports namely Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA), Iloilo Airport, and Clark International Airport were ranked as 18th, 21st, 24th in the Best Airports in Asia list, respectively.

The survey was conducted by interactive travel website “Guide to Sleeping in Airports” (www. sleepinginairports.net) which commended the government’s rehabilitation efforts which have “helped decongest and clean up Terminal 1.”

DOTC Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya, meanwhile, assured that current improvements are only the beginning of the government’s airport modernization efforts.

“While we are pleased to hear that international travelers no longer rate NAIA among the world’s worst, there is obviously still a lot for us to do,” Abaya said in a statement.

“Having fully opened Terminal 3 and substantially refurbishing Terminal 1 after decades of neglect, our next focus is decongesting the runway,” he added.

DOTC has tapped renowned month to optimize runway use of the NAIA by maximizing the use of the runway and increase hourly Optimization Project.

Abaya also said that there will also be improvements for the country’s other airports in MactanCebu, Clark, Panglao, Puerto Princesa, Davao, Iloilo, Bacolod and Laguindingan.