Philippines Naia Terminal 3 To Open This Month

[Palace]

NAIA-3 to finally open later this month

BusinessWorld

MANILA, Philippines - An over 10-year wait for the mothballed Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 (NAIA-3) to open will end in less than two weeks.

Tirso G. Serrano, Manila International Airport Authority assistant general manager, on Wednesday said the opening of NAIA-3, delayed numerous times since legal troubles and completion issues hit the project, will finally open on July 22.

"The pronouncement is to start with domestic operations with PAL (Philippine Airlines) Express, Cebu Pacific and Air Philippines," he said.

"Our ultimate goal is to pursue our strategic plan of utilizing the terminal largely for international operations so as to optimize the features of the terminals."

International flights some six months after the opening, or sometime in January next year, Mr. Serrano added.

The terminal’s opening is expected to help alleviate overcapacity at NAIA Terminal 1, Terminal 2 and the old domestic airport.

The current terminals have a combined capacity of only 18 million passengers annually but are being used by more than 20 million.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, along with 400 others flying in from San Francisco, was one of the first passengers to use NAIA-3 when she came home following an official visit to the United States.

The terminal will initially be used at half of its capacity, Mr. Serrano said.

NAIA-3 has been held up as an example of how foreign investors’ fortunes can suddenly change in the Philippines.

Initially conceptualized in the early ’90s with a group of tycoons interested in putting up the funds, it was finally won in 1997, via bidding, by the Philippine International Terminals Co. (Piatco) consortium.

The project broke ground later that year, and both Piatco and the government set 2002 opening target.

Allegations of impropriety led to the Supreme Court nullifying Piatco’s contract in 2003, with the decision ruled as final the following year.

Questions over the legality of the move, and the compensation that needed to be paid, led to the filing of lawsuits in both local and international courts by Piatco and its German partner, Fraport AG.

The cases have yet to be decided with finality.

The government, meanwhile, reached an agreement with contractor Takenaka to finish the facility, with an opening scheduled for 2006.

That plan was shelved after part of the terminal’s ceiling collapsed, and a subsequent review said rehabilitation work had to conducted. — P. L. G. Montecillo, BusinessWorld

[ai kwaan]

Finally, after 5 years of rotting in the tropical sun, must be crumbling now.

what a fcuked up banana republic the PI is.

[THAILIBAN]

all people whining about Suvannaphum should indeed read this thread carefully.....

if you ever had the "pleasure" of using the ridiculous and tiny domestic terminal in Manila (it may even take up to 20 minutes of queuing in the burning heat outside, before you can actually enter the building), you will cry tears of joy when you are permitted to walk through the gates of Sanam-Bin Suvannaphum again....

[Palace]

Jets start flying out of NAIA 3 for the first time

By Abigail Kwok, Tarra Quismundo

INQUIRER.net, Philippine Daily Inquirer

First Posted 05:25:00 07/22/2008

MANILA, Philippines -- After being in mothballs for six years, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 (NAIA-3) began partial operations Tuesday with a total of 16 domestic flights on schedule, an official of the Manila International Airport Authority said.

Tirso Serrano, MIAA assistant general manager for airport development and corporate affairs, said these would include eight inbound and eight outbound flights, all from Cebu Pacific Air (CEB).

As early as 5:15 a.m., a CEB plane ferried the first NAIA 3 passengers from Manila to Caticlan in Aklan.

“This is a culmination of years of hard work,” said Serrano, adding that they had to repair many structural defects.

Aside from Caticlan, CEB will fly to four local destinations: San Jose in Mindoro; Naga in Bicol; Laoag City, and Tuguegarao City, Serrano said.

CEB will field its 72-seater ATR 72-500, light turbo-propeller planes to these areas.

CEB agreed to pioneer domestic operations at the controversial terminal after airport authorities finally resolved some safety concerns.

Serrano said flights from Philippine Airlines and Air Philippines would be introduced within the week, while international flights from CEB and PAL are expected within the year.

PAL is also expected to begin operations of its budget brand PAL-Express at the new terminal.

PAL and CEB will field planes that do not require the use of aero bridges—terminal tubes that connect to plane doors for boarding or deplaning. In a dry run last month, one of NAIA 3’s aero bridges malfunctioned as it was being tested on an Airbus A-340.

But for small aircraft, all systems were working during the dry run, said CEB spokesperson Candice Iyog. “The terminal will be more comfortable for our passengers,” she added.

CEB’s wide-body operations to major cities will remain at the old Manila Domestic Terminal until further notice.

For its Tuesday flights, CEB said it would use three check-in counters at NAIA 3’s main hall, Iyog said.

Its first flight carried at most 72 passengers to the Aklan island, gateway to the country’s premier beach destination, Boracay. All flights for Tuesday are expected to carry around 500 passengers, Iyog added.

The new terminal is twice as large as NAIA-2 and thrice the size of NAIA’s Terminal 1, he said.

Serrano added that NAIA-3 could accommodate as many as 13 million passengers a year (or 35,000 passengers a day) and 28 flights at any given time.

"[The new terminal] will bring the country's overall airport capacity to 25 million a year," Serrano said.

Meanwhile, Angel Atutubo, assistant general manager for security and emergency services of NAIA, said they have patterned the security of Terminal 3 after that of the Los Angeles Airport.

K-9 units and 500 airport security personnel have been posted for Tuesday's opening, Atutubo said.

More than 50 security checking equipment were also set up in key areas in the terminal, he added.

Atutubo called this the "four-level security screening," which would consist of a comprehensive security system designed to detect all kinds of explosive and illegal devices.

"Level 1 and 2 consist of the explosive detection system 5000 (eds), level 3 with the ctx 9000 that detects all kinds of prohibited items, and these will be redirected to level 4," he said.

Atutubo said these equipment cost around P3 million each.

"Our security here promises comfort and convenience to passengers and passes international standards," Atutubo said.

The terminal was mothballed in 2002 after the Supreme Court voided the multibillion-peso contract for its construction because of onerous provisions. The terminal was 90 percent complete at the time, throwing the government into a legal morass.

Airport officials said partial operations would initially involve only 15 to 20 percent of the facility.

The agency said it hoped to keep domestic operations running for six months to a year before shifting to full domestic and international operations.

At 11 a.m., the MIAA will host simple inaugural rites for VIPs, among them, Sen. Richard Gordon, Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza, recently appointed NAIA 3 task force chief Mike Defensor, lawmakers and agency officials.

[markuk]

manilla airport must be one of the worst!!! i dont bother anymore i would rather fly through Angeles.

[Palace]

^sadly, it's one of the worst indeed.

but hopefully, the new one will be up to your standards.

[Oorinara]

^sadly, it's one of the worst indeed.

Exactly. Manila airport, especially International Terminal 1 and CEB Domestic Terminal, is very much outdated, not renovated, and poorly maintained. No wonder Manila airport showcases how Phils. is stupidly and jokingly organized.

For example, the number and system of airport secutiry guards and checks (besides check-in and immigration).

(1) at entrance of airport site, off terminal; vehicle and baggage check (by just looking in a second)

(2) at entrance of terminal; passport and ticket check (by just looking. Maybe guards are specially trained to memorize all info and reconcile it with airlines' database)

(3) at entrance of check-in ques; passport and ticket check (by just looking. No value added such as guiding business class pax to business class counters. Moreover, too often this checking process is not in place, implying it is unnecessary at all.)

<check-in>

(4) at entrance of terminal fee collection counter; boarding pass (by just looking. This process is not in place in terminal 2. Don't ask why only in Terminal 1. This is the Phils.)

<immigration>

(5) at entrance of boarding satellite; boarding pass (by just looking. Again, not in place in terminal 2. This is the Phils.)

(6) at entrance of boarding waiting area; passport and boarding pass (by reconciling with airline's pax list. Seemingly make sense, but again and again not in place in terminal 2. This is the Phils.)

<congrat, boarding>

However, perhaps because I don't transit through Manila, as an expat in the Phils., I find Manila airport convenient at least to me.

(1) near to the city center Makati, in where I live and work, and just 15-20 minutes drive (if less traffic jam),

(2) small and compact terminal, so no need to walk long from curve side to checkin counter, to immigration and to boarding gate, and of course no inner-terminal transport (unlike BKK, HKG, KL and SIN),

(3) no fabulous shopping or service facilities inside terminals, so no need to look around and no worry to spend (important when traveling with wife and daughters).

Edited July 25, 2008 by Oorinara

[jackiem]

^sadly, it's one of the worst indeed.

but hopefully, the new one will be up to your standards.

Not anymore. The new one is sophisticated and nice. Just been there last week.

[Palace]

thanks jackiem. can't wait to try the new terminal when i get my annual home leave.

fyi, right now, only Cebu Pacific (5J) is flying international flights out of and into Terminal 3. all other airlines (including PAL and Thai Airways) with international flights remain on T1.

T3 is also hosting domestic flights for PAL Express, Cebu Pacific and Air Philippines.

[celtasia]

^sadly, it's one of the worst indeed.

but hopefully, the new one will be up to your standards.

Not anymore. The new one is sophisticated and nice. Just been there last week.

Haaaa you are joking. I went there a day ago, it is so drab and could not find a place to change money. Had to go upstairs to a tiny booth and had my passport taken away by security just to get there!! He wanted money to give it back to me!! A joke.They even allowed me to carry on a small scissors on board!!

[yabs]

yep still crap and don't ec=ven think of using the money chnager there

they ripped me off royally

i expect that on the street but not inside an airport building

[ai kwaan]

you were ripped off? how could that be?

the place is still bare, no atms and no money changers.

only budget carrier Cebu Pacific is there, no major international airline yet, as it is still a 'dry run'

not surprising for someone who's a self-confessed Philippine hater