The Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) reported a robust travel market in April when passenger volume and flight movements were highest since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The MIAA, which manages the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), said the country’s premier gateway handled 1,677,779 international passengers and 9,089 international flights during the month.
It said more than double the number of passengers and planes took off and landed at NAIA compared to April 2022 when there were only 663,824 international passengers and 4,494 international flights.
“Summer is indeed a popular time for vacation and international travel, not only for Filipinos taking advantage of the airlines’ promotional fares or use travel funds for flights they couldn’t use due to the pandemic, but also for our international visitors wanting to see the Philippines,” MIAA officer-in-charge Bryan Co said.
“After more than two years of closed borders, we expect the momentum of recovery to continue for tourism and the aviation industry,” he said, quickly adding the NAIA welcomed 1,178,461 passengers in the first ten days of April as travelers took advantage of the long Holy Week break.
Combined with domestic figures, the NAIA registered a total 3,666,503 passengers and 22,816 flights in April 2023.
This represents a 50 percent rise from the 2,447,795 passengers in April 2022, and accounts for 86 percent of the 4,261,352 passengers in April 2019, the last full year before the pandemic.
Flight movement also increased 28 percent compared to the 17,774 flights in the same month last year, equivalent to 98 percent of the 23,327 flights in April 2019.
MIAA recorded an average of 75.20 percent flight on-time performance (OTP) in April 2023, an improvement from April 2022’s OTP rating of 71.24 percent.
