Naia hosts more flights, passengers

INQUIRER PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

The soon-to-be-upgraded Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) continued to see heavier passenger movement and more flights, showing a sustained demand for air travel so far this year.

According to data from the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), the country’s main gateway recorded a passenger volume of 29.54 million from January to July, 12-percent more than the 26.41 million it registered a year ago.

More than half was accounted for by domestic passengers, with 15.82 million guests.

Operated flights grew by 11 percent to over 171,000. Bulk or nearly 61 percent were domestic flights.

While the international gateway continues to regain lost ground since COVID-19, operations have yet to recover to prepandemic level.

Naia booked a passenger volume of 45.30 million and serviced 270,551 flights last year. These figures were still below the 47.90 million passenger volume and 277,530 flights in 2019.

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New Naia Infrastructure Corp. (NNIC)—a consortium led by San Miguel Corp. (SMC)—will take over operations and maintenance on September 14.

SMC president and CEO Ramon Ang had said the repair of elevators, escalators, toilets and airconditioning units were in their to-do list immediately upon assumption.

The group is also studying a potential terminal reassignment of airlines to improve the efficiency of runway use, allowing the airport to accommodate more flights. Under the concession agreement with the government, the consortium is tasked with increasing aircraft movement from 41 flights to 48 flights per hour.