NAIA passenger traffic seen to hit 2.55M for holidays

Passenger traffic at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) during the holiday season—from December 20, 2025 to January 5, 2026—is expected to increase by 5 percent to around 2.55 million, the airport management said on Monday.

In an advisory, New NAIA Infra Corp. (NNIC) said it expects to handle about 13,700 flights during the holiday travel period, with Terminal 3 projected to post the biggest increase among its three terminals.

NNIC said the airport posted the highest single-day passenger volume in its history on Saturday, December 20, with 171,306 passengers and 950 flight movements recorded that day.

Terminal 3 accounted for more than 90,000 passengers, the largest share among all NAIA terminals.

“The strong holiday traffic comes as NAIA continues to operate beyond its original design capacity,” NNIC said.

Terminal 3 is the largest and busiest terminal at NAIA, handling both domestic and international flights for carriers like Cebu Pacific (both domestic and international), AirAsia (international), and numerous foreign airlines (e.g., Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Emirates). 

Under its new setup, Terminal 1 handles most international departures and arrivals, including foreign carriers and Philippine Airlines’ international routes. 

Terminal 2, on the other hand, is dedicated exclusively to domestic operations by Philippine Airlines (PAL), PAL Express, Philippines AirAsia, Cebgo, Sunlight Air, Royal Air, and other local carriers. 

Before its closure, Terminal 4 served short-haul domestic flights for smaller airlines such as AirSWIFT, Cebgo, and SkyJet.

“Operational and facility upgrades introduced since it took over airport operations a little over a year ago have helped improve passenger flow and system efficiency during peak periods,” it added.

The airport operator—composed of San Miguel Holdings Corp., RMM Asian Logistics Inc., RLW Aviation Development Inc., and  Incheon International Airport Corp.—took over NAIA operations on September 14, 2024.—MCG, GMA Integrated News