The four terminals of Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) are expected to handle over 1 million passengers this Holy Week, or from March 24 to 31, driven by the surge in domestic travel which has surpassed the pre-pandemic level, according to the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA).
Eric Ines, MIAA general manager, said in a statement he anticipates a 15- percent increase in passenger volume during this year’s Semana Santa, compared to the 926,755 last year.
In the first 14 days of March, passenger numbers have reached 1.85 million, with a daily average of 132,367.
For this year’s Holy Week, passenger traffic could reach 140,000 on a single day, or close to the pre-pandemic Lenten season which recorded 1.13 million passengers over eight days, averaging 140,812 daily.
Meanwhile, NLEX Corp. is anticipating traffic volume in its three major expressways to surge by 10 percent during the Holy Week.
The company, which operates North Luzon Expressway, Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway and the NLEX Connector, will reactivate the “Safe Trip Mo, Sagot Ko” motorist assistance program to offer assistance from March 22 to April 1, 2024.
The company said it will also deploy 1,500 traffic, toll and system personnel to help ease the travel of motorists.
The surge of travelers heading north is anticipated to start at 10 a.m. on March 27 until 2 p.m. on March 28.For Manila-bound vehicles, high-volume traffic is expected from 4 to 11 p.m. on March 30 and from 2 p.m. on March 31 to 8 a.m. on April 1.
