Manila Airport

Well it's taken them 6 years but they've finally managed to screw up T3. Arrived early afternoon at the extreme southern end of the terminal. Carpets in the piers are disgusting and haven't been cleaned in years. Not a single travelator was working the entire length of the terminal (and no aircon either). T3 has over 20 Arrival Immigration Desks. How many were manned? 5. With 3 flights arriving within a few minutes of each other it took nearly an hour to get my passport stamped. In the baggage hall there were no information screens working which wasn't much of a problem since all 3 flights bags were on the single operating carousel again no air conditioning. Lots of Customs Officials though doing what I do not know. I decided to get a metered taxi but at mid afternoon there was a queue of about 50 or 60 people waiting with no taxis arriving. (They actually have seats in the Taxi queue). After a few minutes I decided to go upstairs to see if I could get a taxi which had just dropped off but the only way to get there is to walk the whole length of the terminal (again) entering without a ticket on the pretext of going to the Cebu Pacific Ticket Office going up to the Departures level and again walking the entire length of the terminal since all of the doors except 1 are entry only - total nonsense. I was able to get a taxi within a few minutes. I can't imagine how long those people had to wait outside arrivals for a cab. T3 Departures works fine most of the time but the Arrivals experience is getting worse as the terminal fills up. I cannot imagine what T3 would be like if it was working to capacity - parts of it are dirty it's not maintained it's not properly staffed the organisation is chaotic at best and it appears they don't want to waste money on running air conditioning or other mechanical equipment - but it's still the best MNL Terminal.

The worst airport by far. Dirty toilets almost no clocks dirt all over the place. Chaotic seating. Noisy. Lots of unnecessary checks the international terminal is a big shed kind of hangar. At the boarding gate there was a table of 5 staff members checking paperwork again and again. On top of this there are the terminal "fee" you have to pay. Its a shame.

Flew out of NAIA Terminal 1 last March 7 2014 to Singapore and half of the terminal is under construction. There is an ongoing construction in the middle of the Check-in counter which makes the area crowded. Half of the immigration counters are open (approximately 10 are open and more younger personnel are visible). Snack bar and some shops are closed for renovation so there are fewer seats. Flight info display are not currently working. All toilets are renovated and are now dignified. Return to NAIA Terminal 1 last March 10 Arrival hall is a sad story (It's dark and only few light bulbs are working). Immigration is a breeze they added many counters. Will avoid Terminal 1 until December 2014. January 2015 is the finish month of renovations and repair at NAIA. BTW you can bring food inside the terminal to avoid the horrible food choices at NAIA T1 (just put it in a sealed bag / container). Never pay for anything else in NAIA aside from Terminal Fee (P550) and Travel Tax (P1620 for Filipinos). Flew out of NAIA at around 6am.

Flew out of NAIA Terminal 3 last Feb 12 2014) Manila - Hong Kong - Manila. Terminal 3 is the best among the 3 NAIA terminals. Check-in (baggage drop off) is a breeze only took me 5 min (thanks to web check-in). Terminal 3 is very spacious and modern. Many good food choices at level 2 no need to go outside to go up or down in the terminal. There is a free transfer from terminal 1 2 3 so no need to hire a taxi. Transfer signs are visible. Immigration personnel are young looking and friendly (shockingly great). Final security is a breeze no long lines here in NAIA T3. There are still closed shops. There are now hand luggage trolleys inside. Only All Nippon Airways and Cebu pacific fly out of NAIA Terminal 3. By 4th Quarter of 2014 until 1st Quarter of 2015 KLM Cathay Pacific Singapore Airlines Delta Airlines and Emirates are to transfer to Terminal 3 as announced by Transportation Secretary. Good news! Toilets are clean and fresh. Never give money to people that are asking! Do not encourage.

Flew out of Terminal 1 late evening of March 2. I live in the Philippines (I am British) and use the airport several times a year. While not a great airport I never thought it was a candidate for the world's worst until now. The place was on the point of collapse with the flight information system not working the drop off area like a war zone chaotic queues laughably confusing inaccurate or non existent signage immigration staff who did not have a clue how to process foreigners with resident status and disgusting airport lounge facilities. As someone who wishes the Philippines well I find it hard to understand how this airport can be so appallingly managed. It is definitely not more fun in Terminal 1.

Terminal 3 early morning flight (0800 with 0500 check-in) on Cebu Pacific. Minimal traffic at that time couple of minutes wait for security screening entering T3. Zero wait at Check-In very efficient. I went upstairs for a look around. Plenty eating places open but none that I fancied at that time in the morning. They've taken away a lot of the seating upstairs - yes you can sit down but you have to spend money to do so. A few minutes to pay airport tax (550PHP) and get through Immigration and Security. Airside at that time in the morning only a few places were open. Duty Free was closed so I went to the gate area to stretch out and nap until my flight boarded. It's pretty basic by regional standards but T3 is by far the best terminal in NAIA and certainly affects my choice of airline.

Bar none the worst airport I have ever flown to. The facilities were cramped poorly lit and shockingly dirty with terminal seats being stained with all manners of drinks/food. Due to unknown security regulations there were three separate security checks on top of Customs and Immigration that often created long bottlenecks in the airport. Once in the terminal area there were few food and beverage options with only one female bathroom for multiple gates of large intercontinental aircraft. Worse still you could not access the restroom without exiting one of the three security layers and having to be re-screened again. There is simply no reason why a country that so strongly advertises for tourism should have it's main international airport be so antiquated.

Terminal one is old. That being said the staff were friendly and helpful but the place is old. After going through the first security point there is all the shopping options one would expect but food options are rather limited. I was able to get a massage for a good price which was nice. Once you go to your gate you go through another security checkpoint which you can't leave to use the restroom without going through security again. So as flight time approaches the gate area becomes terribly congested and claustrophobic. Boarding was less than pleasant but we left close to on time and safely. So it's got that going for it. In recommending this airport you need to realize its almost the only game in town (Clark) we left on time seemed safe and the people were nice.

Flying from CGK to NGO via MNL. 8 hour layover. This airport is painful for transit passengers. We were caged in "transit lounge" with no such an entertainment. Strange rule applied: no getting out from "transit room" not even for food! This room is not effective as a "transit room".

Flew PAL from Toronto to Manila via Vancouver. Terminal 2 that PAL uses is supposed to be the newest of the 3 terminals but is old and musty smelling. The toilet which I used while waiting for my luggage from the carousel was filthy and there was no toilet paper. Fortunately getting through customs was a breeze and I did not spend much time there on the inbound flight. On the outbound flight I had the misfortune of being there for 3 hours. The seats are very uncomfortable and there is not much choice of food or beverages. Most were canteen like with no seats. There is absolutely nothing to do while waiting for your flight other than stare out of the window.