Ninoy Aquino International Airport


Ninoy Aquino International Airport or NAIA, formerly known and still commonly referred to as Manila International Airport as well as by its codename Nichols Field, is the airport serving Manila and its surrounding metropolitan area. Located along the border between the cities of Pasay and Parañaque, about south of Manila proper and southwest of Makati. NAIA is the main international gateway for travelers to the Philippines and serves as a hub for AirAsia Philippines, Cebgo, Cebu Pacific, PAL Express, and Philippine Airlines. It is managed by the Manila International Airport Authority, a branch of the Department of Transportation.
Officially, NAIA is the only airport serving the Manila area. However, in practice, both NAIA and Clark International Airport, located in the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga, serve the Manila area, with Clark catering mostly to low-cost carriers because of its lower landing fees compared to those charged at NAIA. In the recent past there have been calls for Clark to replace NAIA eventually as the primary airport of the Philippines. The airport is named after the late Senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr., who was assassinated at the airport in 1983. In 2018, all terminals at NAIA handled a record-breaking annual passenger traffic of 45,082,544, an increase of 6.79% from the previous year. It will be replaced by the New Manila International Airport, which is located in Bulacan, to serve both Metro Manila and Central Luzon.

History

The original airport that served Manila, Grace Park Airfield, also known as Manila North, was opened in 1935 in Grace Park, Caloocan. It was the city's first commercial airport, and was used by Philippine Aerial Taxi Company for its first domestic routes. In July 1937, Manila International Air Terminal located in the Nielson Airport was inaugurated and had served as the gateway to Manila. Its runways of which now form Ayala Avenue and Paseo de Roxas in Makati. In 1948, following Philippine independence, the airport was moved to its current site adjacent to the Villamor Airbase, which was then called Nichols Field due to the reasons of less terrain slope, expansive land area in the new site, and the USAF base runway which can be used for the airport. The original structure was built on what is now the site of Terminal 2.
In 1954 the airport's international runway and associated taxiway were built, and in 1956, construction was started on a control tower and a terminal building for international passengers. The new terminal was inaugurated on September 22, 1961. On January 22, 1972, a fire caused substantial damage to the original terminal building, which also resulted in six casualties, and a slightly smaller terminal was rebuilt in its place the following year. This second terminal would served as the country's international terminal until 1981 when it was converted to a domestic airport upon the completion and opening of a new, higher-capacity terminal, known today as Terminal 1. The old international terminal was later damaged by another fire in May 1985.
One year after its opening, the present-day Terminal 1 became a scene of a controversial event in Philippine history on August 21, 1983. Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr. was assassinated at the terminal's Gate 8 after returning to the Philippines from his self-imposed exile in the United States. Ironically, his flight number, China Airlines 811, was the same flight number that was involved in an accident three years ago at the same airport, albeit that the aircraft involved in the 1983 assassination was a Boeing 767–200. Four years after the incident, during the presidency of Ninoy's wife Corazon Aquino in 1987, Republic Act No. 6639 was enacted without executive approval, renaming the airport in Ninoy's honor.
Plans for a new terminal were conceived in 1989, when the Department of Transportation and Communications commissioned Aéroports de Paris to do a feasibility study to expand capacity. The recommendation was to build two new terminals, and in 1998 Terminal 2 was completed. Terminal 2 was nicknamed the Centennial Terminal as its completion coincided with the 100th anniversary of the Philippine Declaration of Independence from Spain. In 1997 the government approved the construction of Terminal 3, which was originally scheduled to be completed in 2002. After many delays caused by technical and legal issues, the terminal became partially operational in mid-2008 and fully operational in August 2014. The government aims to return services from many of the airlines which cancelled services to Manila as a result of Terminal 1's problems.

1990s

The original proposal for the construction of a third terminal was proposed by Asia's Emerging Dragon Corporation. AEDP eventually lost the bid to PairCargo and its partner Fraport AG of Germany, who went on to begin construction of the terminal under the administration of Joseph Estrada. In August 1997, President Fidel V. Ramos led the groundbreaking ceremony of Terminal 3. The structure was mostly completed several years ago and was originally scheduled to open in 2002. The ultra-modern US$640 million, facility was designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill to have a capacity of 13 million passengers per year. However, a legal dispute between the government of the Philippines and the project's main contractor, Philippine International Air Terminals Co. Inc., over the Build-Operate-Transfer contract, delayed the final completion and opening of the terminal.
While the original agreement was one in which PairCargo and Fraport AG would operate the airport for several years after its construction, followed by a handing over of the terminal to the Philippine government, the government offered to buy out Fraport AG for $400 million, to which Fraport agreed. However, before the terminal could be fully completed, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, called the contract "onerous" and therefore formed a committee to evaluate the agreement to buy out Fraport AG. It is this action that sparked the most controversy. The Philippine Supreme Court eventually found the Piatco contract "null and void" citing a variety of anomalies.
The administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo eventually abrogated Piatco's BOT Contract for allegedly having been anomalous in certain important respects. In a subsequent decision, the Philippine Supreme Court upheld the Philippine Government's position on the matter and declared the BOT contract "null and void" for, among other things, violations of certain provisions of the BOT law. More specifically, the Court found that the original contract was revised to allow for a Philippine government guarantee of Piatco's obligations to its creditors, contractors and suppliers. The BOT law disallows the granting of such sovereign guarantees. Piatco disagrees and continues to maintain that the provisions cited by the Supreme Court do not amount to a prohibited sovereign guarantee by the Philippine Government.

2000s

In December 2004, the Philippine government expropriated the terminal project from Piatco through an order of the Pasay City Regional Trial Court. However, the court only allowed the Philippine government to take over the terminal upon payment of an initial amount of to Piatco. The Philippine government paid Piatco this amount during the second week of September 2006. According to the Philippine government, NAIA-3 was 98% complete and required at least an additional US$6 million to complete. The government was then in the process of negotiating a contract with the builder of the terminal, Takenaka Corporation, because another factor that delayed the terminal's opening was the ongoing investigation into the collapse of an area of the terminal's ceiling.
Piatco have instituted arbitration proceedings before different international bodies to recover a fair settlement. Piatco sued the government before the International Chamber of Commerce in Singapore. Fraport separately sued the Philippine government at the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes in Washington. In 2007, the ICSID case was decided in favor of the Philippine government because of a violation of Philippine law by Fraport. However, this decision was annulled in 2010 due to a violation of Fraport's right to be heard. A new proceeding before the ICSID is ongoing. Piatco formally withdrew its second application to set aside the earlier ICC ruling that dismissed its claims against the Philippine government in December 2011. The ICC ruling in favor of the Philippine government became final and executory in 2012.
Through Executive Order No. 732, the NAIA Terminal 3 Task Force was made and Michael Defensor was appointed on June 19, 2008 as head, creating the Presidential Task Force on NAIA-3 that was "mandated to ensure the immediate opening and operation of Terminal 3." The order provides for the NAIA-3 opening based on decisions of the Supreme Court and applicable laws.
Terminal 3 began partial operations at 05:15am on July 22, 2008 with 16 inbound and outbound domestic flights from Cebu Pacific. Philippine Airlines' subsidiary PAL Express moved their operations to this terminal two days later. Cebu Pacific moved all of its domestic and international operations to the terminal on August 1, 2008.

2010s

On August 1, 2010, Then President Benigno Aquino III announced plans to utilize Terminal 3 to its maximum capacity by the Christmas season, which may mean moving international carriers to Terminal 3, but the goal was never reached.
The Philippine government has made a new plan where Terminal 3 would be fully operational by the end of 2011, but lowered their goal to 55% operational after further study. The move of international carriers began in February 2011 with All Nippon Airways starting a new service to Manila from Terminal 3, rather than Terminal 1 with other international carriers. On July 31, 2014, Terminal 3 became fully operational. ANA was the only foreign carrier at Terminal 3 until October 1, 2014, when nine international airlines, namely Delta Air Lines, KLM, Emirates, Singapore Airlines, and Cathay Pacific, Qantas, United Airlines, Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines, transferred operations from Terminal 1.
In October 2015, reports of an extortion scam concerning bullets planted by airport security officials in airline passengers' luggages spread, creating a scare among travelers. former Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte, then a presumptive presidential candidate in the 2016 Philippine presidential election, further alleged that a syndicate is behind the series of incidents. Duterte said the operation had been going on for more than two years. The Malacañang Palace and the Philippine Senate has since conducted an investigation on the incidents. Jose Angel Aquino Honrado, the chairman of MIAA, which manages the airport, is President Benigno Aquino III's first cousin. In April 2016, yet another laglag-bala incident occurred.
On February 12, 2018, a consortium of seven conglomerates consisting of Aboitiz InfraCapital Incorporated, AC Infrastructure Holdings Corporation, Alliance Global Group Incorporated, Asia's Emerging Dragon Corporation, Filinvest Development Corporation, JG Summit Holdings, and Metro Pacific Investments Corporation, submitted a ₱350 billion, or US$6.75 billion, 35-year unsolicited proposal to rehabilitate, expand, operate, and maintain the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. The consortium's airport rehabilitation and expansion proposal will be divided into two phases which are the improvement and expansion of terminals in the current NAIA land area, and the development of an additional runway, taxiways, passenger terminals, and associated support infrastructure. Changi Airport Consultants Pte. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Changi Airports International Pte. Ltd., will provide technical support in relation to their unsolicited proposal. Singapore's Changi Airport Group is also eyeing a 30-percent stake in this venture. DOTr is expected to finish its evaluation of the proposal by April 2017.
On February 28, 2018, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez from the House of Representatives on Wednesday announced the extension from forty-five days to six months of the deadline for airlines to transfer some of their flights to Clark International Airport to decongest the airport.
On March 1, 2018, Megawide Construction Corporation and its India-based consortium partner GMR Infrastructure, the consortium which revamped the Mactan–Cebu International Airport, have submitted a ₱150 billion, or US$3 billion, proposal to decongest and redevelop the airport as well. GMR-Megawide, unlike the aforementioned consortium, is not pushing for the construction of a new runway. According to GMR Megawide Mactan-Cebu International Airport Corp. chief executive adviser Andrew Harrison, such a structure would not significantly boost capacity.
On March 3, 2018, the Manila International Airport Authority announced the termination of MIASCOR's extended lease and concession contract on April 21, 2018, to be taken over by five ground-handling service providers.
The NAIA consortium pulled out of the rehabilitation project due to some undisclosed issues, and thus Megawide-GMR took over as the original proponent status of the project. Megawide-GMR also operates the Mactan–Cebu International Airport.

Statistics

Volume of passengers

This table of passenger movements at MNL is based on the data from Airports Council International. 2010 NAIA passenger traffic was based on Manila International Airport Authority's website for the full year of 2010.
Calendar YearPassenger movement% ChangeRank
200312,955,80981
200415,186,52117.2%75
200516,216,0316.8%77
200617,660,6978.9%73
200720,467,62715.9%64
200822,253,1588.7%57
200924,108,8258.3%51
201027,119,89912.5%49
201129,552,2649.0%46
201231,878,9357.9%45
201332,865,0003.1%45
201434,015,1693.5%49
201536,681,6017.84%49
201639,516,7827.73%47
201742,022,4846.34%44
201845,082,5447.28%42
201947,898,0466.25%

Cargo volume

This table of Cargo Statistics at MNL is based on data from its
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Airport lounges

Terminal 1
Terminal 2
Terminal 3
Terminal 4

Terminal 1

Terminal 1 or NAIA 1, has an area of and having been completed in 1981 is the second oldest terminal at NAIA with a design capacity of 4.5 million passengers per year but was further expanded to accommodate 6 million passengers. The terminal currently serves foreign carriers operating in Manila, except for those in Terminal 3 include All Nippon Airways, Cathay Pacific, Delta Air Lines, Emirates, KLM, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, Turkish Airlines and United Airlines. It also serves Philippine Airlines flights to and from Canada and the Middle East, except Dubai flights. The detailed designs were adopted by the Philippine Government in 1974 and was subsequently approved by the Asian Development Bank on September 18, 1975. Actual work on the terminal began during the second quarter of 1978. In 1989, a Master Plan Review recommended the construction of two new terminals, as well as many other facility improvements.
The development of the Manila International Airport was finally approved through the promulgation of Executive Order No. 381, which authorized the airport's development. In 1973, a feasibility study/airport master plan was done by Airways Engineering Corporation through a US$29.6 million loan from the Asian Development Bank. The Detailed Engineering Design of the New Manila International Airport Development Project was done by Renardet-Sauti/Transplan/F.F. Cruz Consultant while the terminal's Detailed Architectural Design was prepared by Leandro Locsin's L.V. Locsin and Associates.
The terminal reached capacity in 1991, when it registered a total passenger volume of 4.53 million. Since 1991, the terminal has been over capacity and has been recording an annual average growth rate of 11%, but improvements to the airport increased its capacity to 6 million passengers yearly. Compared to international terminals in other Asian countries, Terminal 1 has consistently ranked at the bottom due to limited and outdated facilities, poor passenger comfort, and crowding. From 2011 to 2013, Terminal 1 was on the list of worst airports in Asia and the world by the travel website "The Guide to Sleeping In Airports", ranking on number one. In this regard, transport authorities plan to give Terminal 1 a makeover; the plans were approved by President Benigno Aquino III. The makeover and upgrade includes the expansion of the arrival area, addition of parking spaces, and improvement of other terminal facilities.
The Transportation and Communications Department previously announced that as soon as Terminal 3 becomes fully operational, Terminal 1 was eyed by Cebu Pacific with the intention rehabilitating the terminal into an "Airport City" and serve as an exclusive terminal for their aircraft.
Terminal 1 started renovation on January 23, 2014 to upgrade and modernize the 32-year-old passenger terminal building and to be finalized and operational by May 2015. Divided into six phases with 40% completion on December 16, 2014, renovations include the installation of buckling restrained braces to strengthen the structural integrity of the building, and a much-needed facelift in the interior design of the terminal. Five international airlines, which are Delta Air Lines, KLM, Emirates, Singapore Airlines, and Cathay Pacific, have transferred to Terminal 3 from August 1 to October 1, 2014 and Four international airlines, which are Qantas, Qatar Airways, United Airlines, and Turkish Airlines have transferred to Terminal 3 from October 28, 2018 to January 1, 2019 in an effort to decongest the terminal.

Terminal 2

Terminal 2 also known as Centennial Terminal, has an area of, and is located at the Old MIA Road. It began construction in December 1995 and was inaugurated on May 1, 1999 and began operations in 1999. It has been named the Centennial Terminal in commemoration of the centennial year of the declaration of Philippine independence. The terminal was originally designed by Aéroports de Paris to be a domestic terminal, but the design was later modified to accommodate international flights. It has a capacity of 2.5 million passengers per year in its international wing and five million in its domestic wing. It is able to be modified to accommodate nine million passengers per year if needed.
Terminal 2 is exclusively used by Philippine Airlines and PAL Express for both its domestic and international flights. It is divided into two wings: the North Wing, for international flights, and the South Wing, which handles domestic operations. It currently has 12 jet bridges. There are several cafes and restaurants in the Terminal post-security. There is also a small duty-free section in the north wing. The need for two more terminals was proposed by a Master Plan Review of the Airport that was undertaken in 1989 by Aéroports de Paris. The study was facilitated by means of a grant from the French Government. The review cost 2.9 million French francs and was submitted to the Philippine Government for evaluation in 1990.
In 1991, the French government granted a 30-million-franc soft loan to the Philippine government, which was to be used to cover the Detailed Architectural and Engineering Design of the NAIA Terminal 2. ADP completed the design in 1992 and in 1994, the Japanese Government granted an 18.12-billion-yen soft loan to the Philippine Government to finance 75% of the terminal's construction costs and 100% of the supervision costs. Construction of the Centennial Terminal began on December 11, 1995, and was formally turned over to the government of the Philippines on December 28, 1998. The terminal became fully operational by 1999.
In August 2014, DOTC formally announced the plan of expanding of Terminal 2. The plan also considers to build a structure interconnecting Terminals 1 and 2. It also includes the demolition of the unused Philippine Village Hotel complex beside the terminal awaiting the fixing of certain issues. A fuel depot located between the terminals will be transferred to the demolished area to give way for the expansion. The 26 comfort rooms are being renovated, in which 16 are located in a passenger movement area. Four of the 7 air-handling units are being repaired and 21 additional units are expected to be installed to improve the temperature in the terminal.

Terminal 3

Terminal 3 is the newest and largest terminal in the NAIA complex. Construction started on it in 1997. Since construction, the terminal has been at the center with legal battles, red tape, and arbitration cases in both the United States and Singapore, as well as technical and safety concerns which delayed its opening several times. Terminal 3 is built on a lot that sits on Villamor Air Base. The terminal building has a total floor area of and has a total length of. A four-level shopping mall connects the terminal and parking buildings. The parking building has a capacity of 2,000 cars and the outdoor parking area has a capacity of 1,200 cars. The terminal is capable of servicing 33,000 passengers daily at peak or 6,000 passengers per hour. A footbridge that opened in April 2017, known as Runway Manila, connects the terminal with Newport City. The bridge contains moving walkways and can accommodate about 2,000 persons at any given time.
Its apron area has a size of. The terminal has 34 jet bridges and 20 contact gates with the ability of servicing 28 planes at a time. The terminal has 70 flight information terminals, 314 display monitors, and of fiber-optic I.T. cabling. It also has 29 restroom blocks. The departure area has five entrances all equipped with X-ray machines with the final security check having 18 X-ray machines. Its baggage claim has 7 large baggage carousels, each with its own flight display monitor.
The terminal officially opened to selected domestic flights from July 22, 2008, with Cebu Pacific international flights using it from August 1, 2008. All international operations, except for those from PAL, are intended to operate from Terminal 3 in the future, originally proposed to move in fourth quarter of 2010; however, domestic carriers Cebu Pacific and PAL Express remained the only tenants for the first two years of its operation. The vast majority of international flights still operate from Terminal 1, but All Nippon Airways became the first foreign-based carrier to operate out of Terminal 3 starting February 27, 2011.
The terminal underwent a rehabilitation under the contractor Takenaka Corp. of Japan to improve its facilities and utilize the whole terminal. Previously, it only operated at half of its capacity awaiting the completion of the remaining system works. The terminal became fully operational on August 1, 2014, leading to the transfer of five international airlines to Terminal 3 to ease congestion at Terminal 1 starting with Delta Air Lines on that day, followed by KLM on August 4, Emirates on August 15, Singapore Airlines on September 1, and Cathay Pacific on October 1. Both United Airlines and Qantas are relocated to Terminal 3 from Terminal 1 on October 28, 2018. Middle Eastern carriers Qatar Airways was also relocated to Terminal 3 on December 1, 2018, while Turkish Airlines is scheduled to transfer to Terminal 3 on January 1, 2019.

Terminal 4

Terminal 4 named as Manila Domestic Passenger Terminal, and still known as the Old Domestic Terminal, is the oldest of the four existing terminals, having been built in 1948. It is host to all domestic flights within the Philippines that are operated by Cebgo, among others. There are no jet bridges and passengers walk to and from the aircraft or are occasionally bussed. Twenty-six check-in counters are located in the terminal. The departure hall has the seating capacity for 969 people at a time. Several food stores and a book and magazine stall are also available. Five baggage carousels are located in the terminal while domestic airline offices, banks, restaurants and a grocery store are also located right beside the domestic passenger terminal. The Domestic Terminal is on the old Airport Road near the north end of Runway 13/31. An old hangar has since been annexed to the terminal.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

On March 15, 2020, all domestic flights were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On March 20, 2020, almost all international flights were suspended also due to the pandemic.
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Cargo

Notes:

Runways

NAIA has a primary runway that is long running at 061°/241°, and a secondary runway that is long, running at 136°/316°. The primary runway was oriented at 06/24 in order to harness the southeast and southwest winds. Runway 13/31 is the runway of a former USAF base, Nichols Field known today as Villamor Air Base. On May 26, 2012, Runway 06/24 was partially closed for the replacement of the threshold lightning system on the end of Runway 06. Runway 13/31 was closed to give way for its renovation/expansion and reopened on May 29, 2013. The runway upgraded its length from to. Out of the 550 planes that fly on NAIA daily, 100 of them take the secondary runway. It mostly caters small private planes as well as Airbus A320 aircraft and acts as the main runway of the NAIA Terminal 4.

Third runway plan

There is a proposal according to Transportation Secretary Joseph Abaya that there will be a new runway adjacent to the existing Runway 06/24. The proposed runway has a length of that could allow the landing of an Airbus A320 and increase the numbers of aircraft that the airport can handle from 40 planes per hour to about 60–70. However, according to the consultant hired by the government, building the runway may affect the current operations in the main runway and considering building another terminal to be less disruptive.
Previously, the Japan International Cooperation Agency proposed Sangley Point in Cavite as the site of the new international airport serving Greater Manila Area meaning Sangley could serve as NAIA's third runway until the long-term expansion is planned.

Airbus A380 capability

NAIA is one of two airports in the Philippines that meet the infrastructure requirements for the Airbus A380, the other being Clark International Airport. The airport provides MRO services conducted by Lufthansa Technik Philippines. On October 11, 2007, NAIA hosted the debut of the Airbus A380 in the Philippines, after test aircraft MSN009 landed on Runway 24. The test flight demonstrated that the A380 could land on existing runways in Asia and that the primary international airport of the Philippines can support aircraft as large as the A380.
However, according to Jose Angel Honrado, who served as MIAA General Manager from 2010–2016, NAIA is currently not capable of handling regular commercial flights on the A380, as it would "cause a lot of inconvenience and delay for other scheduled flights" due to the airport's runway's and taxiway's centerline not reaching the "wing-tip-to-wing-tip clearance" safety requirement for the aircraft to operate at the airport on a regular basis. Therefore, no airlines have regular commercial flights that operate using this aircraft, although some airlines who have Airbus A380 flies to NAIA for maintenance at Lufthansa Technik Philippines. On October 7, 2014, Emirates flew their A380 to NAIA in a one-off commercial flight from and to Dubai to commemorate the transfer of the airline's operations to Terminal 3. The flight was captained by Franklyn Desiderio, the first Filipino pilot certified to fly the Airbus A380.

Facilities

Lufthansa Technik Philippines

Lufthansa Technik Philippines was founded in 2000 as a joint venture of German firm Lufthansa Technik and Philippine aviation service provider MacroAsia Corporation. Lufthansa Technik Philippines offers aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul services to customers.
The company focuses on maintenance checks for the Airbus A320 family and A330/A340 aircraft. Seven hangar bays and workshops have been upgraded to the latest industry standards to support aircraft maintenance, major modifications, cabin reconfigurations, engine maintenance and painting for the Airbus A320 family, A330/A340, as well as the Boeing 747–400 and 777 aircraft. A new widebody hangar was recently added to meet the increasing demand for A330/A340 base maintenance checks.
The company also opened an Airbus A380 maintenance hangar to allow the aircraft to be repaired at the airport facility. Lufthansa Technik Philippines opens A380 maintenance hangar. In July 2012, A Qantas Airbus A380 completed its passenger cabin reconfiguration. It is one of the 12 Airbus A380 that was cabin reconfigured in the LTP Manila's facility. It also provides total technical and engineering support for the entire Philippine Airlines, PAL Express fleet and other international airline fleets as well.

Aviation Partnership (Philippines) Corporation

Aviation Partnership Corporation is SIA Engineering's third line maintenance joint venture outside Singapore. The joint venture of SIA Engineering Company and Cebu Pacific Air provides line maintenance, light aircraft checks and technical ramp handling as well as other services to Cebu Pacific Air and third-party airline customers.

DHL

The airport also serves as a gateway facility of the logistics company DHL. On March 12, 2006, the company opened its first quality control center at NAIA Terminal 3 to show support in its local market.

Philippine Airlines Facility

Philippine Airlines operates several aviation facilities in the Philippines. These include various training facilities for pilots and cabin crew, catering services, as well as a data center and an A320 flight simulator.
Philippine Airlines also maintains training facilities both for its pilots and other crew, composed of the PAL Aviation School, the PAL Technical Center, and the PAL Learning Center. The PAL Aviation School, located within the premises of Clark Civil Aviation Complex, provides flight training for its own operations and as well as for other airlines, the Philippine government and individual students. It currently operates ten Cessna 172Rs, five of which is fitted with a Glass Cockpit Garmin G1000 for student pilots' training with complete training facilities including simulators for the Airbus A320 and for turboprop aircraft. More than 5,000 students graduated from the PAL Aviation School, eventually joining the ranks of pilots at PAL and other airlines.
PAL Learning Center, located in Manila, serves as the integrated center for Philippine Airlines flight deck crew, cabin crew, catering, technical, ticketing and ground personnel. Located at the PAL Maintenance Base Complex in Pasay City, the PAL flight simulator, designed to simulate an Airbus A320, can duplicate all flight conditions complete with sound and visual system capability for day, dusk and night operations.

Ground transportation

Inter-terminal transportation

The Manila International Airport Authority runs a shuttle bus system which connects all four terminals for passengers who have onward connections on flights departing from another terminal. Shuttle buses run every fifteen minutes during daytime hours, but passengers are required to clear immigration and customs to use the system.
Philippine Airlines operates an airside shuttle service between Terminals 1, 2 and 3 for passengers connecting to onward PAL Express flights and vice versa.

External connections

Bus

Nine city bus routes serve the airport from various points in Metro Manila, eight which go via Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, and one via Circumferential Road 5.
Ultimate Bus Experience operates a Premium Airport Bus Service that serves on all NAIA Terminals and hotels and commercial areas located in the cities of Manila, Makati, Mandaluyong, Muntinlupa, Quezon City, Pasay, Pasig and Parañaque, all in Metro Manila and in the city of Santa Rosa in Laguna. It also has stops at JAM Liner, Philtranco and Victory Liner terminals in Pasay for passengers going to/coming from the provinces of Northern and Southern Luzon.
HM Transport provides an Airport loop shuttle bus and Premium Point-to-point bus service from Taft Avenue MRT Station and Alabang in Muntinlupa to NAIA Terminal 3. Genesis Transport also provides Premium Point-to-point bus service to Clark International Airport from NAIA Terminal 3.

Jeepney

All four terminals are also served by local jeepney routes serving Parañaque and Pasay.

Rail

The airport is connected, albeit indirectly, by rail: Baclaran station of the Manila LRT Line 1 and Nichols station of the Philippine National Railways both serve the airport complex.
In the future, with the extension of the existing LRT Line 1, a new station, Manila International Airport station, is set to connect the airport, albeit still indirectly, to the LRT-1. A four-station spur extension of the LRT Line 1, directly connecting Terminal 3 to Baclaran, is also proposed.
A station of the Metro Manila Subway line will connect the airport directly by rail.

Road

The NAIA Expressway or NAIA Skyway is the first airport expressway and second elevated tollway in the Philippines. It starts from Sales Interchange of Skyway at the boundary of Pasay City and Taguig City and ends in Entertainment City, Parañaque City. The access ramps of the expressway connects with Terminals 1, 2 and 3 of the airport and also connects with Macapagal Boulevard for motorists and commuters going to/coming from Manila and Manila-Cavite Expressway or CAVITEx for motorists and commuters travelling to/from the province of Cavite.

Accidents and incidents