NAIA passengers in Q1 increase by 158% – MIAA
MANILA, Philippines — More than 10.8 million passengers traveled through the Ninoy Aquino International Airport from January to March, marking a 158% increase in number of travelers in the first quarter of the year compared to the same period in 2022.
The Manila International Airport Authority, which manages NAIA, said Sunday it recorded 10,855,332 passengers in the first three months of the year. During the same quarter in 2022, 4,200,575 passengers traveled through Manila’s main gateway.
This year’s record is only 6% lower than pre-COVID-19 pandemic number of travelers of 11,587,919 during the same period in 2019, the MIAA added.
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Meanwhile, flight movements in the first three months of the year reached 67,781, posting a 77% increase against the record of 38,269 in the same period last year.
This is 4% more than the 65,161 flights recorded in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the biggest monthly flight and passenger totals have been March 2023's 23,399 flights and January 2023's 3,766,546 passengers,” MIAA said.
MIAA General Manager Cesar Chiong pointed out that travelers have regained confidence to fly for business and leisure following the reopening of countries’ borders and easing of travel restrictions.
Strong domestic market
From January to March, 6,164,985 passengers went on 42,331 flights, “surpassing the domestic flight and passenger movement set in the first quarter of 2019” when the agency then logged 5,451,655 traveling on 36,206 flights.
Chiong explained that since domestic borders opened earlier than abroad, airlines have deployed a lot of flights for local destinations.
“As the aviation industry recovers from the effects of the pandemic, passenger numbers are likely to rise further in the coming months and years,” Chiong added. — Kristine Joy Patag
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