Philippine Airlines Calls For National Airport Master Plan To Enhance Passenger Experience And Boost Aviation Growth

Published on October 14, 2025

During nan Philippine Aviation Summit successful 2025, nan vice president and COO of Philippine Airlines, Carlos Luis Fernandez, stressed nan request for nan improvement of a coherent all-inclusive nationalist airdrome master-plan. Fernandez explained that nan airdrome maestro scheme is basal to consolidate and destruct redundant procedures, amended operational ratio and productivity, meet nan expanding request successful nan region for aerial travel, and make aviation a awesome contributor to nan system of nan Philippines.

This connection is peculiarly applicable to Manila Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), which is presently struggling pinch congestion, insufficient capacity, and outdated infrastructure. The caller emergence successful rider numbers, driven by expanding tourism and business travel, has made clear nan urgent request for a unified strategy to negociate nan nation’s airdrome infrastructure much effectively. According to Fernandez, nan Philippines’ aviation assemblage faces stiff title from neighbouring countries, each of which are making important strides successful airdrome and hose capabilities.

Fernandez’s scheme outlines a multifaceted attack to reside these challenges, pinch an accent connected optimising existing resources and preparing for semipermanent growth. For passengers, this could construe into a smoother, much reliable recreation experience, from booking a formation to landing astatine their destination.

Transforming Manila and Beyond: Optimising Airport Operations

Fernandez highlighted that Manila’s airdrome presently handles nan highest number of world flights successful nan country, but its capacity is obscurity adjacent capable to support up pinch nan increasing demand. With complete 280,000 world seats successful conscionable 1 week, Manila accounts for 81.6 percent of nan Philippines’ world aerial traffic, yet is plagued by congestion owed to overcrowded terminals and outdated infrastructure.

In his speech, he pointed retired that while NAIA is captious to nan country’s aerial connectivity, it is operating acold beyond its optimal capacity. As a result, passengers often acquisition delays and agelong queues, some successful information checks and astatine baggage claim. By addressing these issues, nan maestro scheme could trim waiting times, amended comfort, and make aerial recreation a overmuch much businesslike process for millions of travellers.

The first shape of Fernandez’s projected scheme would attraction connected contiguous ratio upgrades astatine Manila, including further runway extensions, nan preamble of night-rated runways, and improvements to navigation systems. These upgrades would thief trim delays and guarantee that much flights tin beryllium accommodated per hour, reducing hold times for passengers.

This would use travellers significantly, peculiarly those connected world flights, who presently look lengthy layovers aliases delayed departures owed to constricted slots. The upgrades could besides boost nan airport’s wide reliability, ensuring smoother connections and amended scheduling for connecting flights.

Complementing Airports Across nan Philippines

Alongside improvements to Manila’s infrastructure, nan projected scheme besides suggests a much coordinated attack to different airports, specified arsenic Angeles City Clark International and nan upcoming Bulacan airport. These airports, while promising, often compete for nan aforesaid rider base, which could inhibit their semipermanent development.

A well-coordinated attack would guarantee that these airports complement each different and attraction connected their unsocial strengths, whether it beryllium serving location flights aliases becoming hubs for cargo traffic. This would supply passengers pinch a wider scope of options erstwhile choosing their departure and presence airports, giving them nan elasticity to prime nan astir convenient way for their recreation needs. Additionally, it would thief to dispersed rider postulation much evenly crossed nan country, reducing unit connected NAIA and enhancing wide recreation efficiency.

Investing successful Secondary Airports: Supporting Regional Development

A important portion of nan projected maestro scheme is nan standardisation of secondary airports crossed nan country. This would see investments successful runway extensions, night-rated infrastructure, and nan upgrading of navigation aids. For passengers, this could mean amended location connectivity, allowing for much nonstop flights to and from provincial destinations, alternatively than forcing travellers to return connecting flights done Manila.

Currently, only a fewer airports extracurricular Manila grip important world traffic. Cebu, for example, presently accounts for conscionable 10.8 percent of nan nationalist world spot capacity, while Clark stands astatine 4.5 percent. Expanding and modernising secondary airports could lead to amended location connectivity, allowing travellers to alert straight to celebrated destinations without having to transit done Manila. This would not only heighten nan convenience for passengers but besides relieve congestion astatine awesome airports, making aerial recreation smoother for all.

A Boost to nan Philippine Economy

The Philippine aviation sector’s capacity importantly lags down that of its neighbours. In 2024, Philippine airports handled conscionable 60 cardinal passengers, acold little than nan 156 cardinal passengers handled by Indonesia aliases 119 cardinal passengers successful Thailand. However, by implementing nan projected maestro plan, PAL believes that nan state tin pat into nan booming aviation maturation seen crossed Asia. The plan’s attraction connected infrastructure improvement is expected to not only amended nan rider acquisition but besides bolster nan Philippine system by driving maturation successful nan tourism and logistics sectors.

In particular, PAL highlighted nan comparatively debased aerial cargo measurement successful nan Philippines, which stands astatine little than 700,000 tonnes annually, compared to 5 cardinal tonnes handled by Hong Kong International Airport. By improving airdrome infrastructure, nan Philippines could go a cardinal subordinate successful world aerial cargo logistics, opening up caller opportunities for trade, exports, and tourism.

For passengers, this intends improved work and enhanced entree to much destinations. More businesslike cargo logistics besides intends that travellers tin bask a wider assortment of products disposable astatine airports, enhancing nan wide recreation experience.

Looking Ahead: A Unified Strategy for nan Future

Philippine Airlines remains patient successful its belief that a coordinated nationalist airdrome maestro scheme is captious for ensuring that nan country’s airports are equipped to meet nan demands of modern aviation. The strategy outlined by Fernandez is astir much than conscionable beingness infrastructure, it is astir shaping a early wherever aerial recreation is an effortless and seamless acquisition for passengers. This imagination aligns pinch nan airline’s semipermanent goals of improving rider satisfaction, optimising operational efficiency, and positioning nan Philippines arsenic a location aviation hub.

As caller trends successful aviation arise, nan request for a caller nationalist airdrome maestro scheme is becoming much crucial. It will service arsenic a cornerstone for a much competitive, effective, and passenger-centered aerial recreation system, and alteration nan philippines aviation manufacture and its adjacent sectors to turn sustainably.