NAIA-3 passenger traffic increasing steadily

Passenger volume at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport terminal 3 (NAIA-3) continued to rise with the transfer of foreign airlines after the completion of a P1.9-billion retrofitting works last year.

Data from the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) showed a steady increase in passenger departures with 669,433 in February; 782,134 in March; and 841,174 in April.

Major foreign airlines transferred to NAIA-3 after the completion of retrofitting works by Takenaka Corp. of Japan, paving the way for full blast works for the P1.3 billion rehabilitation of NAIA-1 being undertaken by DM Consunji Inc.

With the steady increase in the volume of passengers, MIAA decided to implement a new flow scheme for those entering the departure lobby of NAIA-3.

Jose Angel Honrado, MIAA general manager, said there would be no more mixing of queues to make sure that passengers could go to the check-in counters promptly.

“Passenger movement has been a recent concern in the terminal following a slight increase of passengers due to the summer season. With the new scheme, however, passengers will have more space. Queues leading to the counters will be reserved for them,” Honrado said.

Under the scheme, the first five entryways at the departure area would be reserved for passengers while well-wishers or non-passengers would be directed to use only the sixth entrance at the end of the lobby.

Passengers are requested to present travel documents such as their tickets to security personnel at the main entrance doors.

Similarly, non-passengers entering the terminal would be limited to the perimeter area of the check-in hall as most of the departure area would be restricted to passenger use.

Honrado pointed out that the fourth floor of Terminal 3, where shops and restaurants are located, remains a common area where well-wishers and passengers could still get together prior to boarding.

Volume of passengers at the four terminals in NAIA rose by about four percent to 34.1 million last year from 32.8 million in 2013.

The number of arriving and departing domestic passengers at NAIA went up 1.8 percent to 18.02 million last year from 17.69 million in 2013 while international passenger traffic went up by 5.9 percent to 16.07 million from 15.17 million.