Manila Airport

✅ Trip Verified | My experience of Manila is only of Terminal 3, which is the newest of the four terminals at the airport. Upon arrival we had to fill out an immigration card in order to get through immigration, although we found it hard to find any blank cards as they were hardly any at the desks. However, once we had filled these out the queue for immigration was less than 10 minutes which was acceptable. The baggage reclaim area is bright and airy and the bags came through quickly. We had a five hour layover which meant we explored each and every shop in the terminal. The ground floor has a small range of shops including some high end labels and also a Starbucks, whilst the upper level has a wider selection of shops selling everything from sportswear to make up to souvenirs. There is also a good selection of eateries in this terminal, anything from fast food to a formal sit down meal. There is a small spa and an area where you can rent a bedroom if you have a longer layover although we did not use these facilities so cannot comment on what they are like. We found the toilets to be generally very clean and there are countless cleaners walking around the terminal ensuring it is kept in good order. Upon departure entry into the terminal building requires your baggage to be scanned which led to a few queues outside the building but no more than five minutes. Access to the check in areas is also controlled with only those with valid tickets for travel allowed in. Once passed security the terminal is separated into international and domestic departures and you cannot move between the two areas. We experienced both sides during our trip and as expected the international side has far more shops including a fairly extensive duty free offering. The domestic side of the departure lounge had a few eateries but mostly fast food, nothing too inspiring. Signage throughout the terminal was generally very good and we had no issue navigating our way around. There is plenty of seating both in the international and domestic departure lounges with good views of the runway and apron to one side and the Manila skyline to the other. The free Wi-Fi is only available for an hour and requires a code that is sent to you by text message so we did not use it. It is also worth mentioning that on the upper level of the terminal there is a footbridge to Resorts World where it is possible to spend a few hours browsing the shops or having a meal. It is also possible to store your luggage for free at Resorts World at either of the security desks to save you from dragging it around the shops.

Not Verified | We did not experience anything bad or unexpected while traveling through Manila Ninoy International Airport. It was reasonably clean (including bathrooms), well marked and the staff was helpful. We arrived and departed there from San Francisco (Philippine Airline) and did intra country flights using Cebu Pacific to Caron and Boracay. It is an extremely busy airport so double your before arrival time. Increase this more if it happens to be a Philippine holiday. Do online checkin. Have your covid shots done. Do your etravel before hand. Philippine Airlines will xray and open your checked bags to swab for explosives residue (more time).

T3 arrival mid afternoon on Cebu Pacific. The usual long walk from the gate with marginally functioning aircon and no working travelators. Immigration was slick and quick (few minutes) and another 10 minute wait on my bag. I was landside within 30 mins of landing which is pretty good. I don't bother with the Taxi's outside Arrivals (few taxi's / long queues) and prefer to go up to the Departures area where there's better taxi availability. On Departure since there are now more airlines using Terminal 3 and Cebu Pacific are getting squeezed into a smaller area. Landside is always busy, with hardly anywhere to sit, so the trick is to arrive at the terminal shortly before your flight opens (usually 3 hrs before Departure). Cebu Pacific Check-in now is one long queue for all international destinations. I preferred the old way - flight specific queues - check in early before the queue forms and relax airside. Check-in was a good 45 mins but no queues in Immigration or Security in the early evening and I was airside with a book and a cocktail 10 minutes later. T3 is by far the best MNL Terminal and definately affects my choice of airline.

✅ Trip Verified | This review covers both transit and departure / arrival procedures that I experienced on my return trip Port Moresby - Manila - Jakarta via T2 (Philippine airlines). My recent experience in December 2022 does not concur with the mostly negative reviews about this airport. First visit was on transit between POM and CGK, by using the Mabuhay lounge (long layover of 7 hours without going out of immigration). Second visit was for the return trip from CGK to POM via MNL, during which I decided to go out of the airport to kill the 18 hrs lay-over time. It is worth noting that both experience took place after the big bulk PR flights to the Americas and Middle East had been moved to T3, which makes a huge difference since they accounted for half of the T2 previous volume from what I had read. Immigration: always courteous and asking polite questions, no queue coming in and going out, the immigration clearance took less than 3 minutes in my case. Total time spent (without checked luggage) from the aircraft door to taxi: 12 minutes. total time spent from disembarking taxi to Mabuhay lounge (including clearing immigration and security): 10 minutes (without checked luggage). Yes, the airport is tired but being an old airport located within the perimeter of metro Manila, you also only spend 15-20 minutes to go to the nearest city of Pasay / Makati instead of 1 hour or so commuting. As already reviewed by others, nothing to shout about in terms of duty free shopping, mostly just small shops selling foods inside the T2 international. Maybe due to recent complaint on youtube, I see they start to accept credit cards instead of cash only (above minimum spend limit). Security check: completely normal and relatively quick, just one time after the immigration, or one time when you are transiting internationally prior to re-entering the departure hall. Minimum queues, and they ask you to remove the shoes but nothing unusual. For the seating facility, Mabuhay lounge is great but the public zone is less than adequate. My only other less than positive comment involves the tarmac ground crew / bridge operator: on 2 occasions the PR flights actually arrived earlier than scheduled, however this became meaningless due to unreadiness of the ground crew and operators to receive the aircraft to its final parking position. The plane was kept waiting about 200 meters from the gate whilst burning fuel for 10-15 minutes! It happened on both my inbound flights to Manila so perhaps could be identified as room for improvement. Bottom line: not the best airport for sure, but it's not as bad as the internet would lead you to believe either. I always find the people being quite polite and courteous, from the immigration, customs, boarding crew and Mabuhay lounge personnel. The waiting time now is really minimal. If it were indeed quite substandard in the past, in my opinion great effort has been put in place to increase the service quality of the T2 establishment.

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.

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.

❎ Not Verified | While Manila Terminal 1 is still not yet Singapore or Dubai, there has been a noticeable improvement in the facilities, cleanliness and A/C. I have seen numerous much worse airports, and even many airports in the US are not much better. PS. Of course Terminal 3 is still much better.

✅ Trip Verified | Lots have actually improved in the airport (terminal 3). They have placed departure cards in every airline check in counters (they didn't have before). Immigration is now faster, more counters are open and lighted well than before. Security check might be a hassle. Signs and directions are adequate. Not a lot of seats in the general area and it can get too crowded. Food and beverages are great, lots of options before you enter immigration, after immigration there are still some food outlets available but not as much. Duty free shopping is great, very modern and very helpful staff. Wifi is good, not the best but good enough to do some light internet usage. Airport Staff are very helpful. Overall I'd recommend this airport.

I went on holiday to Manila from 21-26 April 2016. I departed for my return journey back to Singapore from NAIA Terminal 3 and had a pleasant experience. Upon arrival at the departure hall there were porters who helped carry my luggage, I felt a genuine sense of hospitality. Prior to the access into the departure hall, we had to go through security screening. This was a pleasant experience and security staff greeted me "Good Morning Sir, Welcome to NAIA Terminal 3 and We hope to see you again". After this, I proceeded to the airline counter for the normal check in. Check in staff were helpful and ensured passengers did not have to wait in line for long.

Manila Terminal 3 despite being the newest terminal at NAIA is currently undergoing refurbishment with an extension to the 3rd level pre security shopping and dining area. This means that there is an excellent selection of dining and shopping facilities. The major downside of using terminal 3 is that whilst these renovations are being undertaken there is no air-conditioning so is extremely hot especially at busy times. All airports in the Philippines have a security check as you enter the airport where you are required to show the guard a copy of your ticket in order to gain entry into the airport. This can be a problem if the airline sends you the e-ticket in the form of a corrupted pdf which cannot be opened! Had to call the airline and get them to send a representative to confirm I had a ticket in order to obtain entry into the airport. There are currently roadworks on the roads around the airport (Skyway extension) which can significantly add to the already congested roads and journey times. Personally I prefer flying into Terminal 3 which is a vast improvement on the old International terminal 1 I just hope they sort out the air-conditioning!