Mong Palatino

Philippine Airport Terminals

Ninoy Aquino International Airport or NAIA is the Philippines’ busiest and most important airport. It’s also infamous for being one of the most hated and worst airports in the world. To be included in the (dis)honor roll is embarrassing for NAIA but at least it forced the government to recognize the urgency of redesigning and enhancing the physical and aesthetic structures of the airport, including the services it provides to domestic and international passengers. But NAIA is just one of the country’s 85 airports, nine of which are so-called international terminals. What is the state of these lesser known airports? Are they worse than NAIA? Can they handle more air traffic? Do they make air travel less stressful for tourists and our Overseas Filipino Worker heroes?

Frequent travelers usually complain about the decrepit and cramped conditions of our airports. The photos in this webpage validate these observations. But my aim is not merely to expose the poor quality of our air transportation infrastructure. I also hope to build a network of Philippine travelers who will passionately lobby for better airport terminals and services. And I’ll also give some travel tips to first-time visitors in the Philippines.

This will be an online collaborative project and this page will be continuously updated. So send me your photos of Philippine airport terminals and share also your travel tips – mongpalatino@gmail.com. Sakay na!

Vigan, Ilocos Sur