Manila Airport

I flew into terminal 1 on a Royal Brunei flight and was amazed at how quick immigration was. Transit bus to terminal 2 was ok if a bit infrequent. Domestic departures for terminal 2 is clean and modern if rather sparse. What disappointed me most was the fact one can't buy a beer once through security. However my worst ordeal was when I flew back to Indonesia from the Philippines. You need to pass through 2 checkpoints just to reach the check-in desks of terminal 1. When I got to Royal Brunei's check-in desks it was understaffed with unhelpful staff and it took 40 minutes for me to get served. I then had to pay for a departures tax which was absolutely ludicrous given this is a pathetic excuse for an airport. When I got through immigration half the facilities were out of service due to renovation and there wasn't even a money changer. This in particular annoyed me as you'd expect this in one of Asia's largest international airports. Furthermore I arrived just over 2 hours before departure which seems like plenty of time but by the time I got through there wasn't that long before boarding and had I arrived half an hour later I would have struggled to make my flight. Therefore you must arrive here at least 3 hours before departure to be safe. Overall this airport is in a sorry state and terminal 1 likely employs the same number of staff as it employed when it opened back in 1981 which makes it chaotic. Unless the Philippine Airport authorities get their act together they will deter both tourists and investors which will only adversely affect its economy. Other major hubs in Asia even much-criticised ones like Jakarta Soekarno- Hatta and Shanghai Pudong provide a much better experience and airports like Singapore Changi Hong Kong and Bangkok Suvarnabhumi really heap shame on Manila. Sadly if you're flying to the Philippines this airport is usually your only feasible choice.

Terminal 1 - this is my country's first airport built almost 2+ decades ago! I am ashamed of this structure and whatever is in it. Arriving from KKIA (Riyadh) and Changi (Singapore) you can really see the difference! Immigration was ok except that I felt like I was queuing for cinema tickets! Customs was a breeze. Adding to the humidity and terrible heat is the chaotic meeting area on lower ground! Departure - terribly hot in the check-in area good thing I was invited to stay in the Singapore Airlines Business Club Lounge that somehow eased the stress! Air-conditioning was still terrible on a rainy day. How I wish they would refurbish this very tired Terminal 1!

Terminal 2 arrival on PAL. Saw that our A321 from SGN had arrived at the same time as an A330 presumably from HKG so I ran so as not to get trapped in immigration. And I didn't but then had to wait 1 hour for my luggage. Taxi was a complete rip off. Accreditation nonsense and all that which I read as scam. Terminal 1 departure on Malaysia Airlines. Had to go through 3 inept security checks to get to the check in desk. Was meeting someone for this flight and was constantly moved on by police for no apparent reason. Food outlets awful. Immigration officer was very chatty in Tagalog with my fellow traveller despite there being a continually increasing queue. Just stamp my passport and let me get out of this place please! Terminal Fee a complete sham. Philippines - trust me this airport is no fun!

NAIA-1. Complete Zoo of a place. On Arrival I had a 30 minute wait for Immigration and a further 45 minute for baggage (many were longer) with no functioning aircon in either area. Customs is not a problem and taxi wait was OK late at night but I was 1 hour 20 minutes to exit the terminal. On Departure a 20 minute wait just to get into Departures but fortunately I'd checked in online for Emirates but for that the other poor souls would be waiting a couple of hours in queues stretching half way across the terminal. Most of the seating has been removed airside in departures and there were dozens of passengers sitting on the floor. Pretty quick to take your PHP 550 Terminal Fee. Immigration was another 20 minutes and I usually shell out PHP600 to get into one of the pay lounges upstairs - mainly to be able to sit in a comfortable seat relax and to get access to a clean toilet. NAIA-1 is just an awful place - mainly because for years it's been working at 3 times it's design capacity for passenger numbers. My Rating is based on T1 - T3 is much better. I also passed through NAIA-3 - way better experience. Quick into the terminal Cebu Pacific slick on check-in. Immigration and Security efficient with comfortable and spacious Departure Areas. Upon Arrival I was out of the terminal within 30 minutes of landing including Immigration and Baggage.

Arrived at NAIA T1 once again end of May from Bahrain and these so called renovations are all cosmetic and certainly there are no enhancements on efficiency friendliness of staff anywhere in this airport. Always glad to exit and get into a rentacar to get to the T2 but even this terminal is awful there is no working air- conditioning here. At least customs now has the two channels to go through but still you have to fill out the long customs form which I thought they were getting rid of?

Terrible terminal undergoing renovations. Outbound it was so crowded seeing a number of flights departing in the early morning (2 Delta flights heading for the US via Japan 1 Cathay 1 JAL 1 Emirates 1 SQ - all wide body jets). Long queue for travel tax (I don't know why they can't integrate this in the ticket fare) acceptable immigration and security queues but the terminal is so sweltering hot that by the time all of the procedures are cleared was so exhausted (especially travelling with kids) that I felt that I just ran 5Kms in the middle of the day. Inbound was no better. Plane landed at 10PM and got in the car at 1AM owing to long immigration queues (again that time has 5 or 6 wide bodies landing within 15 minutes of each other) and an even longer wait at baggage claim. The waiting area downstairs was just too crowded and traffic around the terminal made it impossible for vehicles to move smoothly. I was so disgusted by this experience that I booked my next flight out making sure I departed and arrived at another terminal.

Terminal 3 (all Cebu Pacific flights) - Spacious and although renovations are ongoing the facilities are adequate. There are plenty of places to eat and a decent number of shops but there is little choice when it comes to books magazines puzzles etc.

Terminal 4 (mostly domestic flights on Tiger Air / Air Asia Zest). By far the worst of the terminals at NAIA (I have been there 6 times in the past 5 months) it's almost impossible to find anything positive to say about this terminal. At most times of the day it is overcrowded to the extent that it is hard to find anywhere to sit in the departure lounge even on the floor. The air conditioning is inadequate the facilities are minimal the queues often depressingly long and getting a taxi from the airport is extremely difficult. There are plenty of taxis around but those depositing departing passengers are not allowed to pick up passengers arriving. Officials might claim that problems are due to ongoing renovations but (1) the previous taxi system worked just fine and (2) the new departure lounge for domestic is much smaller than the old one.

Arrived at T1 on CX913 from HKG it was around 22.30 as we were towed to the bridge then as we arrived at the immigration the number of passengers waiting to get through immigration was so much that the whole immigration hall was crowded with people. It was impossible to queue as everyone was trying to squeeze to the front. Visitor immigration was located on the second floor of the immigration hall all visitors need to squeeze through the narrow pathway to the left in order to get there. It took us almost 30 minutes to reach the immigration desk. Immigration officers were chatting while processing the immigrating procedures it took me almost 2 minutes to finally get my passport back. It took me 15 minutes more to reclaim my luggage the service here was awful!

Terminal 1 which is currently being renovated was actually better than I expected. Arrival at 6pm on a Saturday night was a breeze. No queue at either the immigration counters or the baggage belts. I was in a taxi just 30 minutes after arrival. Departure at 5pm on a Monday was very different. Long queues everywhere (except at the Web Check In counter). Barely working air conditioning very little seating after immigration and security. The toilets were clean though and the airport staff were friendly and helpful. The cafe upstairs was quite nice with good food and drinks at reasonable prices. The boarding area was OK with lots of seats. All in all not too bad an experience. This terminal will be a lot better when the renovation is finished later this year.