THE New NAIA Infra Corp. (NNIC) said that passenger traffic at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) during the 2025 holiday travel period from December 20 to January 4 is projected to rise about 5 percent from last year to around 2.55 million.
NNIC general manager Lito Alvarez said that based on forecast, NAIA is to also handle over 13,700 flights exceeding last year’s holiday levels, as traffic is expected to rise across all terminals, led by Terminal 3.
It was learned that on Saturday (December 20) alone, a total of 171,306 passengers passed through NAIA, the highest single-day passenger volume in the airport’s history, as holiday travel peaked at the Philippines’ main aviation hub. Flight activity also reached a high, with 950 movements recorded on the day.
Alvarez said Terminal 3 accounted for more than half of the total passenger volume, handling over 90,000 passengers — the largest share among all NAIA terminals.
Despite the volume, he said that airport operations remained stable, supported by coordinated airside management involving gate allocation, airside control, and ramp operations. The company credited its airside operations teams for managing aircraft movements and gate utilization under peak demand conditions.
“Close coordination among government agencies and private-sector stakeholders operating at the airport was critical in managing the surge, particularly in areas such as air traffic flow, immigration processing, ground handling and terminal operations. The airport’s performance depends on multiple entities functioning as a single system, especially during peak travel periods,” Alvarez added.
The strong holiday traffic comes as NAIA continues to operate beyond its original design capacity. according to Alvarez, saying operational and facility upgrades introduced since it took over airport operations a little over a year ago have helped improve passenger flow and system efficiency during peak periods.
“These include the rollout of new biometric immigration e-Gates and passenger processing systems, as well as the opening of additional passenger spaces at Terminal 3, including new food halls and waiting areas,” he stated.
