THE Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) saw a robust international market in April 2023, with the highest passenger volume and flight movement in a single month since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), which manages NAIA, said that the country’s main gateway handled 1,677,779 international passengers and 9,089 international flights in April 2023.
More than double the number of passengers and planes have taken off and landed, compared to April 2022, when there were 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 airlines’ promotional fares or using 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,” Co added, noting that NAIA welcomed 1,178,461 passengers overall in the first ten days of April as travelers took advantage of the long Holy Week break.
Combined with domestic figures, NAIA registered a total of 3,666,503 passengers and 22,816 flights in April 2023.
This represents a 50% rise from the 2,447,795 passengers in April 2022, and accounts for 86% of the 4,261,352 passengers in April 2019, the last full year before the pandemic.
Flight movement has also increased by 28% compared to the 17,774 flights in the same month last year, and is equivalent to 98% of the 23,327 flights in April 2019.
MIAA recorded an average of 75.20% flight on-time performance (OTP) in April 2023, an improvement from April 2022’s OTP rating of 71.24%
