The Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) has achieved its 45- million passengers target for the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in 2023 and expects to sustain the growth as a new private consortium takes over the operations of the country’s main gateway, by the third quarter.
This developed as the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said it expects 15 million arrivals this year as it recorded 12.6 million arrivals in the country in 2023, more than double the 6.1 million arrivals recorded in 2022.
MIAA, which manages NAIA, met its forecast of 45.4 million passengers at NAIA last year, comprising 24.9 million domestic and 20.5 million international travelers.
Last year’s passenger volume is 47 percent higher than the 30.9 million passengers recorded in the previous year and achieved 95 percent of the 47.7 million passengers tallied pre-pandemic in 2019.
NAIA also recorded a total of 279,953 flights in 2023, higher by 26 percent than the 221,595 flights in 2022 and up by 3 percent from the 271,535 flights registered in 2019.
With the anticipated turnover of NAIA’s operation and maintenance to the winning private consortium, further improvements in facilities, infrastructure, equipment, runways and terminals are expected, to accommodate the increasing number of passengers and flights in the coming years, eventually handling up to 62 million passengers per year, said MIAA.
The DOTr is set to open the technical proposal of four bidders on January 10 and the financial proposal on February 14. The notice of award will be issued on February 15 and the contract with the winning bidder will be signed on March 15.
Eric Jose Ines, MIAA general manager, noted the robust flight movements, particularly in the domestic operations.
“In terms of domestic flights, we’re recording 12 percent more than in 2019. This strong domestic rebound is not only a testament to the resilience of our local aviation industry, but also reflects the support of travelers in revitalizing our domestic tourism sector,” Ines said.
“We have also returned international flight operations to 91 percent of pre-pandemic levels. We are encouraged by the renewed confidence in air travel, reaffirming our collective efforts to steer the aviation sector back to pre-pandemic levels. This is a significant step towards normalcy in global air travel,” Ines added.
MIAA said it implemented measures to better handle the spike in flight movements and passenger volumes.
The four NAIA terminals’ capacity was optimized through initiatives like the Schedule and Terminal Rationalization Assignment program, which involved terminal reassignments for select airlines.
MIAA also said the Airport Integrated Command and Control Center’s effective schedule management enabled it to accommodate more flights, with 800 flights departing from and arriving at NAIA within a 24-hour window.
Meanwhile, Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said BI expects the number of foreign arrivals to further grow as international travel and tourism has bounced back after most of the pandemic restrictions has been lifted.
Topping the list of foreign arrivals last year are South Koreans with 1,186,135, followed by Americans with 1,186,135 million arrivals, and the Chinese with 417,128 travelers.
Also in the top arrivals list are the Japanese with 358,534 arrivals, followed by Australians with 302,177 inbound travelers.
Other nationalities that topped the list are Canadians, Taiwanese, British, Indians, and Malaysians.
Tansingco said the month of December had the highest number of arrivals, with 1.36 million travelers flocking to the country.
“The said number almost equals December 2019 before the pandemic, which saw 1.7 million arrivals,” the BI chief said. With A. Hachero
