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The Ninoy Aquino International Airport in April 2023 recorded its highest international passenger volume and flight movement in a single month since the COVID-19 pandemic
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NAIA international passengers in April 2023 grew 152.7% year-on-year while international flights increased 102.2%
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Combined with domestic figures, NAIA registered a 50% rise in passengers while flights jumped 28%
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An average 75.20% flight on-time performance in April 2023 was recorded, an improvement from April 2022’s 71.24%
Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) hits its highest international passenger volume and flight movement in April, its best monthly tally since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The country’s main gateway handled 1.678 million international passengers in April, up 152.7% compared with the 663,824 passengers recorded in the same month last year, according to the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), which manages NAIA.
International flights also more than doubled to 9,089, a 102.2% increase from 4,494 international flights in April 2022.
“Summer is indeed a popular time for vacation and international travel, not only for Filipinos taking advantage of airlines’ promotional fares or using travel funds for flights they couldn’t use due to the pandemic, but also for our international visitors wanting to see the Philippines,” MIAA officer-in-charge Bryan Co said in a statement.
“After more than two years of closed borders, we expect the momentum of recovery to continue for tourism and the aviation industry,” Co added, noting that NAIA welcomed 1.178 million passengers overall in the first 10 days of April as travelers took advantage of the long Holy Week break.
Combined with domestic figures, NAIA registered a total of 3.667 million passengers in April 2023, a 50% rise from the 2.448 million passengers year-on-year, although still short of the 4.261 million passengers in April 2019 prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Total flights in April jumped 28% to 22,816 in April 2023 from 17,774 in April 2022, a tad lower than the 23,327 flights in April 2019.
MIAA also recorded an average 75.20% flight on-time performance (OTP) in April 2023, an improvement from April 2022’s 71.24%.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the biggest monthly flight and passenger totals have been March 2023’s 23,399 flights and January 2023’s 3.767 million passengers.
MIAA has implemented the second phase of its terminal reassignment program at NAIA that will further expand capacity of Terminal2.
Under MIAA’s Schedule & Terminal Assignment Rationalization (STAR) program, international flights have been reassigned to Terminals 1 and 3, while Terminal 2 will eventually be an all-domestic facility by July.
RELATED READ: Airlines ease into new NAIA terminal assignments
With this move, MIAA expects Terminal 2’s capacity will increase from 7.5 million to 10 million passengers a year, 20 to 25% more than its current rate as infrastructure such as immigration counters will be transferred to Terminals 1 and 3.
