The private operator of Ninoy Aquino International Airport, New NAIA Infra Corp. (NNIC), has announced the reassignment of eight carriers to new terminals as part of its ongoing initiatives to enhance terminal capacity and facilitate better passenger movement.
Effective March 29, 2026, the flight operations of Air China (CA), China Eastern (MU), Vietnam Airlines (VN), Royal Brunei (BI), and Shenzhen Airlines (ZH) will be moved from Terminal 1 to Terminal 3, while AirAsia Berhad (AK) and the international flights of Philippines AirAsia (Z2) will be shifted from Terminal 3 to Terminal 1.
The flight operations of Japan Airlines (JL) will be relocated from Terminal 1 to Terminal 3 starting April 1, 2026.
“Passengers are advised to verify their terminal assignment with their airline prior to travel,” NNIC said in an advisory released on Tuesday.
NAIA serves as the Philippines’ primary aviation hub, handling domestic and international operations. Under the public-private partnership,
NNIC is responsible for the airport’s operations, maintenance, and modernization, while ownership remains with the government.
In January, the country’s main gateway recorded its highest monthly passenger traffic, sustaining momentum from its strongest year to date.
NNIC said 4.96 million passengers passed through the airport in January, surpassing the 4.86 million recorded in December 2025 and marking the busiest month in NAIA’s history.
Passenger traffic followed a strong holiday travel period from December 20 to January 4, when nearly 2.6 million passengers passed through all terminals. Travel peaked on January 4, with 180,089 passengers—the highest single-day volume recorded so far.
International travel continued to drive growth, with 2.42 million international passengers recorded in January, up 8.16 percent from a year earlier and the highest monthly international volume in NAIA’s history. Domestic passenger traffic reached 2.54 million, up 3.16 percent year-on-year.
Despite higher passenger volumes during the holiday peak and the rest of the month, airport operations remained stable, supported by operational improvements introduced over the past year.
These included terminal upgrades, the rollout of biometric immigration e-gates and biometric passenger processing systems, and closer coordination among airlines, government agencies, and airport service providers to manage queues, flights, and passenger flow.
