Manila Airport

NAIA-3 is getting there. International check-in is pretty efficient at Cebu Pacific. Upstairs the food court has been extended and looks much more permanent. There are other shops located Landside (luggage clothing etc.) but they seem quite expensive. Terminal Fee Payment Immigration and Security are all reasonably efficient. Airside there are a few more eating places than before and although the Duty Free area is small the prices are quite good. Departures is OK as long as they're flying A320's and ATR's but if larger aircraft were to use T3 I'm pretty sure things would get worse. Arrivals is spacious and reasonably efficient but they are strangely scanning the carry-on bags of passengers arriving in the Luggage Hall but they now no longer check bag tags as you leave the Arrivals area. Taxi ranks have minimal waiting times. All in all a pretty good terminal (better than 1 or 2). If however as is planned it goes over to the other international airlines it'll be immediately overcrowded and will join the nightmare that is Terminals 1 and 2.

Terminal 3 was very basic and seemed not totally finished. It has the ability to handle a lot more flights (3 immigration desks open out of about 20) so I'm not sure why it doesn't. Terminal 1 was dirty old and chaotic. Outside departures seemed like a hangout for locals people everywhere just being there for no reason. I cannot understand why global players like SQ EK QR etc allow their passengers to use this terminal when Terminal 3 is sitting there relatively unused. A waste.

Be careful and know the exit fee at the airport. They do have ways of tricking you into paying extra. Last year they charged me almost 200 dollars just for exiting I still have the receipt and I met a person on the plane who only paid 700 PHP. Also be aware that airport terminal workers are very corrupt try not to ask them for directions or assistance or be prepared to be slugged with them asking for money for a tip. I had a bad run in with a terminal worker who I asked where the atm was. He took me there and then demanded a 1000 PHP tip. I didn't have much left but he saw how much I took out and made me pay him the exact amount that I pulled out. I was totally speechless. As nice as some people are there if you appear to be a foreigner you will be targeted and money is all that they care about.

I can never understand why the arrival and departure facilities next to NAIA 1 is not being used by international airlines. Not even the Filipinos are able to give a good answer! NAIA1 is so crowded that you need to arrive for check-in several hours before the departure. If the Philippines wants to be a modern country with development on line with Thailand Malaysia and the other countries in the ASEAN-region they really need to do something with their Manila airport. After all; with this present standard most tourists will likely visit other countries.

I transited in MNL on a LAX-SIN trip on Philippine Airlines. The Philippine Airlines international terminal lacked the bells and whistles of many other Asian major airports but was functional and easy to navigate. I was able to make my connecting flight to SIN easily even though I had less than 1.5 hours. Food options were average. Cleanliness was better than I expected.

I arrived after midnight and there seemed to be only two flights arriving at that time yet the customs clearances were very slow. I waited about 1.5 hours to get through. Then when I cleared customs and went to the information desk the attendant was fast asleep and I couldn't wake him. The queues on departure were also quite long. The shops and restaurants in the departure area are very few and unimpressive. The airport was quite clean though.

One has to endure long lines all throughout the process from entering the terminal to check- in through immigration and security check. There have been some improvements such as renovation of toilets but facilities are inadequate. Airport is still not traveller friendly - no electric plugs for phone charging or use of laptops very few food counters and all are expensive non-functional internet connection. Seats cramped for those who want to wait for hours before boarding.

Arriving and departing 15 times from Manila Terminal 1 a big mess feels back to the 70s again. As a thank you you also need to pay 700PHP "Departure tax". Check-in desk are not able to cope with the all the people when its rush time therefore check-in opens even 4 hours earlier on certain times. Almost no chairs to sit around 30 chairs at minimum. Do not come earlier to terminal 1 you will endure a long and tireful standing as there will be no chairs available whatsoever. Airside toilets not working and not clean. Only a few shops available that sell stuff with high prices.

NAIA 1 in Manila must be one of the worst airports in the world. Departure is more terrible than arrival and the very long queue starts long before you get into the building. After many years of travelling to and from the Philippines I still do not understand why there are another newly built airport only being used by some small airlines like Ceby Pacific. Not even my Philippine friends are able to give me a good answer. They blame politics.

Departed NAIA-1 on Friday evening and the real troubles of using this terminal became apparent. As many have stated it is just too old and too small to cope with the numbers of people trying to use it. Taxi had to queue to get up the ramp to drop me off at departures. I then had a 20 minute queue to get into the terminal building. I'd checked in online which meant that I used the fast bag drop which was ok but next queue was to be allowed into the immigration queue which was hundreds strong and took about 45 minutes. Final queue for security check and then into the ancient but at least quieter airside. Took about 90 minutes all told. I hear that is pretty good for Manila.