Manila Ninoy Aquino Airport Passenger Reviews and Customer opinions

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Terminal 1. This really is a test of endurance. Traffic jams to get there, no matter what the time. Chaos and mess on arrival, a huge meandering line for immigration in a poorly air conditioned hall. Many desks empty. Local people questioned and have to show form after form as you wait behind. Then another long line for security afterwards. Terminal one is dirty, messy, chaotic and unpleasant. People were lining up for a flight in 6 hours time with people running to catch a flight.

Terminal 3 at NAIA is nearly world-class. More shops and facilities need to be added. We went to Boracay on Philippine Airlines just before Christmas and were quite impressed, both with departure and arrival facilities. Terminal 1 is a different and sad story. It is outdated and dirty, it needs to be torn down.

I have visited Manila 3 times in the past year. There has been considerable improvement over that time. We have connected with internal flights but always leave 3 hrs to spare. There is a free shuttle bus from T1 to T2 and T3 but taxis are cheap anyway. Manila traffic is a nightmare and therefore if staying you need to be close to the airport. There are always long queues when Jetstar is flying out in the evening, but, if you play by the rules you will not be disappointed.

Great! What a surprise, 5 mins in immigration, bags within 5 mins and walk though customs!

NAIA-1. This airport is still the same after all these years and I landed in the morning but with immigration waiting time 15 mins which was a little surprising, the baggage reclaim area was a nightmare with 4 flights having arrived and very crowded. Luckily had no check-in baggage so customs was a breeze. The dull airport is still very unwelcoming to the visitor and if you have to transfer to either of the other 2 terminals you have get a taxi/rent a car and battle the streets of Manila so don't have a tight connection scheduled as you'll miss it. Monorail is badly needed between the terminals so the transiting passenger can relax during his/her transfer.

NAIA 2 - What more can I say? This terminal shows no improvement from my last review of 3 years ago. Lousy eating places, toilets with no seats and limited seats with no cushions are just some of the irritating things that you can expect to encounter in this terminal. The terminal is sorely ill-equipped to handle the volume of daily passengers. For departures, it has no "sanitized zone" per se. There is only a cramped cow pen like area near each gate where passengers are corralled to await their flight. Once inside this zone, there are no restrooms. To access the restroom one has to ask for permission, bring ones passport and subject ones self to another security check and pat down upon re-entry. Oh and water even a bottle bought from the stores inside the terminal is not allowed in this area. Unfortunately, this is PAL’s international terminal so if you decide to fly with PAL prepare for the worse.

Queues, queues and more queues. MNL-HKG return using NAIA Terminal 1. Word to the wise: if your airlines offer online check in - use it or be prepared to stand in line for at least an hour. Not enough counters for most airlines to accommodate full wide bodied jets. Immigration lines are a little better. Security was a joke! My daughter inadvertently packed 2 safety scissors in her pencil case and was not detected on the two layers of security (upon entering the terminal, and at the final security after immigration - unacceptable). Airside, nothing to do unless you pay for the upstairs lounges. Limited and expensive food choices. On our return flight, we had to queue for more than an hour to clear immigration and customs as our flight happened to have landed the same time as flights from the US (JAL, DL) and Middle East (EK) did. Officials tried to rearrange the booths but did not do much good as the arrangement apparently created more chaos. I think they should have just used the snaking retractable devices that they did on the outbound area. Waiting for the car was another ordeal since the volume of passengers and greeters just overwhelmed the structure. Government should seriously reconsider transferring some airline operations to T3 post haste.

NAIA Terminal 1 is well-known for long and crawling queues everywhere from entering the Terminal, to check- in, to paying terminal fees, to immigration and to final security check. The most appalling experience is queuing for a little over an hour just to clear immigration at 5.30 am. I arrived at 4.30 am at the airport to catch a 7 am flight. Good thing I was able to do Internet check so I was spared from the long queue at the check-in counter. I was able to reach boarding area at 6.00 am. For first time users, make sure that whenever you fly from Terminal 1, do Internet check-in and arrive at least 3 hours before your flight to spare you from the hassles.

NAIA-3. Quick and slick on Arrivals; 5 mins at Immigration, 5 mins waiting for bags - in the taxi 20 mins after getting off the plane. Departures (Cebu Pacific) Check-in opened 3 hours before departure time. 5 minute wait to check in and another 5 at Immigration. Steady improvement in facilities is evident with more eating and shopping places but still no pay lounges. Poor Flight Info Screens and dreadful flight 'announcement' system. Certainly NAIA-3 is by far the best terminal in MNL and affects my choice of airline.

Returned back to the Philippines from the US and Canada to find the airport freshened up a bit, but still out of date. Cosmetic changes aren't going to change what is basically an airport that is out of date, small, and offering too few facilities. If you can arrange the time that you arrive (and you have the means to check out all arrival times) do your best to avoid arriving at times when flights from the Middle East or the U.S. arrive - the place wasn't built to handle such crowds.

Just and simply awful. Crowded, small, ancient, dark, dirty, inconvenient. Want a relaxing place to sit? There are a few disgusting, stained chairs that are usually occupied by other tired travelers. Food? Forget it. Ramen and plastic wrapped, service-station sandwiches of dubious origin are all that's on offer. There are a few VIP lounges upstairs that offer airline grade snacks and a quieter, slightly cleaner experience for a fee. And a coffee shop that sells pretty bad food. Departure monitors in the holding pen didn't work. Had to laugh at the attempt to "upgrade" by installing free Internet computers recently. They didn't work either. This airport is among the worst in a capital city I've ever been to. It is long overdue for demolition.

We had to use all terminals at various stages of this holiday. T1 - a huge improvement from 7 years ago. Queues were ok, it was fairly clean and seemed a lot brighter. T2 - has slipped a bit. Seems to be a bit tired although it allows a quick and cheap transfer from domestic to international. T3 - very good terminal, easy to navigate, good range of eating places. Went to toilets in each terminal, not once was I asked for a tip.

Amazing as how this 1 airport is so far behind the times. Domestic flights all go to one terminal - International Flights to another. Think you can walk between them to change planes, its a taxi ride - then when you want to check into your airline for a boarding pass - that will take another hours wait. Then through the departure tax payment area, and then security - another 30 + min ordeal. I was there June 7th, 2012 - flew in from Cebu to change airlines connection. I had 2 hrs 45 mins between flights which I thought was plenty of time, it took me 2.5 hrs just to get to the boarding area for the next flight! Avoid this airport if at all possible. Cebu intl is easy, clean and much better to fly in / out of.

The long lines at Terminal 1 have not been addressed. Entering the airport is already a painful experience due to the long lines and the chaotic crowd. The departure area is a mess as there are no adequate seats and long lines that consume most of the space. One has to make sure that the airline offers online check-in to avoid the long queues. The long queue at pre-boarding security is compounded by the inability of the security to immediately provide trays to passengers. Hence, passengers put their stuff on trays just before their luggage are check in the x-ray machine. This matter has been raised to the airport officials but there was no action. Quality of food remains to be poor and no adequate choices. Seating arrangement at the boarding area are very cramped.

Probably the worst and most inefficient airport I have been to. Departing was quite painful with line after line of rude and incompetent staff. To make matters worst, you have to pay to leave! Overcrowded. Staff are clueless. This airport is outdated and just not inviting.

New PAL terminal is ok and I would fly PAL to Manilla for this reason. Old terminal is awful - crowded, chaotic and dirty. Really hard getting a taxi - try and get hotel to sort out one for you. ATM (only 1 on arriva) out of order. Cebu on other hand is small but much better.

NAIA Terminal 1 Departure Hall was crowded and long queues visible. Slight noise from the on-going renovations. No queue at immigration, for a change. What really surprised me was the area of the boarding gate. It has improved a lot - facilities are better, the ambience is nicer, the overall comfort was much better since the last time I used this airport in late January. Hopefully, things will continue to improve.

Obviously dated, heaving and obviously needs a new airport. Arrived just before CNY so fewer tourists. A bit musty, friendly enough and lots of channels open, so very quickly through immigration (10-15 minutes). Luggage arrived within 15 minutes. It's an old airport, toilets after you leave the airport are best described as being on par with developing country airports, but overall pleased that it wasn't as bad as I'd heard. Departed through PAL domestic terminal to Cebu the next day and checks were rudimentary and quick, no major queues, but flight delayed three hours and the hotel had told me to be there two hours before. So a four hour wait with no wi-fi and very little in terms of food options. Not as bad as it could be!

A mixed bag. Used all 3 terminals in the last 2 months. Terminal 1 - out dated. Long times at immigration lines. One flight I was in line for immigration for 2.5 hours. Long lines again when arriving, and touts trying to sell expensive taxi service. Terminal 2 - Used by PAL only. Lines not so long at immigration, but slow wait for luggage, chaos at customs lines, and for luggage verification on exit. Terminal 3 much better. Long lines at the airline check-in. Just get the basics right, shorter lines at immigration, customs, and baggage check point, clean rest rooms would be a big help. Yes there are improvement each year, but not enough to get it out of being the second worst airport in the world according to one publication.

NAIA 1 is an old terminal. I had always preferred T2 and T3 but most of the international airlines are on T1. The X-ray, Check-In and Immigration queues are always long and the main departure hall seems to always be crowded because of limited space. Shops and food selections are limited. But there is hope, when I travelled there 2 weeks ago, T1 has started its long overdue renovation and upgrading. I hope to have a better experience on my next trip.

This airport is inefficient, overcrowded, and the international terminal a disgrace. The queues are long, and the infrastructure for getting between the different terminals is appalling. I've had the displeasure of having to transfer between terminal 3 and terminal 1 after a delayed incoming flight. The taxi fixers outside - professional scammers as they are - quoted me a higher and higher fare as the taxi they promised never showed up. I waited 30-45 mins after initially agreeing a price with them; they also knew when my flight departed. As I was about to lose my flight, they told me I could magically get priority by paying more. Of course I knew I was getting scammed and hustled, but they knew I had no choice.

Ninoy Aquino Terminal 2 was a complete mess, you can see people running to be the first to queue for immigration as there are less than 10 counters open to process 3 flights coming in from Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore which are all fully booked widebody flights. Baggage took more than 2 hours to arrive and 2 flights shared one carousel, T2 is very small and air-conditioning was very poor.

Compared to the other terminals in NAIA, terminal 3 is quite impressive. There is ample shopping and whilst waiting for your flight. The customs were also very quick. The departure halls are large enough.

NAIA T1 is too small to accommodate all flights, especially the ones leaving in peak hours. When airlines with a large passenger count opens check-in at the same time (eg SQ and CX), check-in lines are un- organized and blocks the way to immigration. Lighting at the Check-in hall is very poor, except for the hallways at the airside where it is full of windows. Gate holdrooms are very small and lacks amenities like Free Internet and food shops.

I have used all three terminals at Manila over the last few years. Most international travellers arrive in Terminal 1. An imposing concrete manifestation that might be right in the 1950s or 1960s but not today. The terminal is simply too small for its needs and has a very depressing feel about it. There is often congestion in the bag screening area and the departure lounge is very basic, however the optional and fairly priced lounges makes the stay more pleasurable. For arrivals, the immigration queues can be very slow sometimes especially when several international flights arrive together and the meet and greet area is always just chaotic. The other terminals (2 and 3) are much more built for purpose and are more cheery. The satisfying Terminal 3 is clearly designed as an international terminal but why isn't it being used as such after several years of operation? Overall, for international passengers, this airport doesn't befit the welcome of the people of the Philippines.

During the course of my trip I used T3 three times and T1 for final departure. T3 is ok and has a generally upbeat feel. T1 was dimly lit and poorly arranged. Nothing about it seemed "world class" and the time spent there made me glad to leave. Very poor overall experience.

A trip back in time to the 1980s best describes this airport. Last trip I was lucky and missed the massive queues which are typical of Terminal 1. Rude security staff, general inefficiency and people on the lookout for tips/bribes make the place worse than even LAX. Only good point is free WIFI, but it doesn't extend down to the departure gates. Avoid speaking to anyone you don't have to, toilet attendant pointed out the soap for me while I was washing my hands and pulled some tissues from the dispenser obviously angling for a tip so I just ignored him and walked off.

Customer Rating :  2/5

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Customer Rating :  4/5

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Customer Rating :  1/5

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Customer Rating :  4/5

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Customer Rating :  2/5

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Customer Rating :  1/5

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Customer Rating :  2/5

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Customer Rating :  4/5

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Customer Rating :  3/5

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Customer Rating :  2/5

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Customer Rating :  1/5

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