NAIA Terminal 3 Now Open

At last, after six years of dispute following its supposed opening in 2002, Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 officially opened to public. Cebu Pacific flights from Manila to Boracay (Caticlan), Laoag, Naga, San Jose (Mindoro), and Tuguegarao took off from the newly-opened terminal Tuesday, July 22.

NAIA 3 initially accommodates five flights of Cebu Pacific for the day and will start accommodating other local airlines such as Air Philippines and Philippine Airlines (PAL) Express starting July 24.

Seated on a 63.5-hectare of Villamor Air Base, the terminal is the largest and most advanced airport in the country, capable of servicing 33,000 passengers daily at peak or 6,000 passengers per hour. The airport building has a floor area of 182,500 square meters spanning to a length of 1.2 kilometers. It has a 4-level shopping mall that connects the terminal and parking buildings. The parking building has a capacity of 2,000 cars while the outdoor parking area has a capacity of 1,200 cars.

The opening of the airport will help solve the problem of old and crowded airports by accommodating the growing number of air traffic passengers to and from Manila. It can be recalled that the NAIA-3 project was awarded by the government to PIATCO in 1996, construction started in 1997. The 2002 opening was delayed after President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declared that the government would not honor its contract with PIATCO after allegedly having been anomalous in certain important aspects. The Supreme Court ruled in the government’s favor but said the projects proponents have to be compensated. As negotiations dragged on, the government took over NAIA-3 in December 2004.

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Filed under: News — Lakwatsero @ July 22, 2008 - 1:44 pm

9 Comments »

  1. Sa wakas this took painfully long. Nawawala tuloy kumpiyansa ko sa Pagcor City.

    kaya nga eh! pero hopefully eh masimulan at maisakatuparan na, since madami namang funds ang pagcor.

    Comment by Metrorat — July 23, 2008 @ 9:59 am

  2. Hay, todo reklamo nga ako sa erpats ko dun sa Terminal 2 ng PAL kasi super sikip. Or nasisikipan lang ako. Tsaka yung mga carousels ang konti.

    :D

    baka nasanay ka lang sa mga airposts and carousels sa isteyst! hahaha!

    Comment by Kevin — July 23, 2008 @ 10:19 am

  3. [...] and Lakwatsero are jubilant over the opening of the largest and most advanced airport terminal in the Philippines. [...]

    Pingback by Global Voices Online » Philippines: New airport terminal — July 24, 2008 @ 5:50 pm

  4. mga tsongs, alam nyo ba magkano taxi fare from T1 to T3? may friend kc akong galing US and she wants to try T3…

    depends on the traffic, from terminal 1 kasi dadaan ng old domestic which is medyo traffic minsan then to Nichols for terminal 3, more or less P80.00 cguro, but it will not be more than P100.00

    Comment by she — August 4, 2008 @ 10:02 am

  5. Friends, any cheap overnight (or 2, or 3 nights) parking options near/at T3? Thanks!

    I’m not sure if there are any in T3 area, parang wala akong nakikita, all I know is the parking area near the Old Domestic Airport (former Ding Velayo), which is just a 5-10 minute jeep or taxi ride from T3 and the Park & Fly which is near T2.

    Comment by jubs — September 24, 2008 @ 11:24 am

  6. Gud am po, asko ko lang po kung magkano yung fare sa taxi from naia terminal 1 to novaliches?Uwi po me dyan eh. thanks

    Sorry, I haven’t tried a taxi ride from T1 to Novaliches, primarily because I don’t live there. I hope those readers who have experienced it share it here. One thing is for sure though, it will cost you a lot, lalo na kung airport taxi ang masakyan mo.

    Comment by niks_crasher — September 29, 2008 @ 8:39 am

  7. open na po ba yung mall sa T3?

    Not yet… I think when the international carriers start moving to T3, saka pa lang mag oopen din yung mall… Hay… I miss HKIA and Changi, hehehe!

    Comment by keu — November 8, 2008 @ 1:17 am

  8. can I park my car in T3?

    Comment by Mike F. — November 17, 2008 @ 11:43 pm

  9. I mean, can I park my car overnight in T3? Will leave it there for 3d/2N…

    Comment by Mike F. — November 17, 2008 @ 11:43 pm

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