A surge in travel reshaped the skies above Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) during the first nine months of the year, with a total of 38.86 million passengers passing through its terminals – a notable increase of nearly 4%.
This growth was largely fueled by a robust domestic travel sector, which saw 20.75 million passengers, marking a 3.29% rise compared to the previous year. International travel also contributed significantly, climbing 4.74% to reach 18.11 million passengers.
Despite the increase in passengers, the total number of flights experienced a slight dip, registering 218,086 – a decrease of 0.60% from the year before. This suggests a trend towards fuller flights, rather than an increase in overall air traffic.
However, the momentum faltered during the third quarter, with passenger numbers falling nearly 20% to 12.14 million. Both domestic and international travel experienced declines, with domestic passengers dropping from 6.66 million to 6.5 million and international passengers plummeting from 8.51 million to 5.64 million.
Earlier projections from airport authorities anticipated a substantial passenger volume increase of up to 30% for the coming year, a forecast that now faces reassessment in light of the third quarter’s performance.
Looking back at the entirety of the previous year, NAIA recorded a total of 50.26 million passengers, representing a 10.9% increase overall. Remarkably, this figure also surpassed pre-pandemic levels, exceeding the 2019 total by 4.9%.
