The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) confirmed on Monday, May 5, 2014, that a total of five (5) international airlines are scheduled to transfer their operations to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Termina 3 (NAIA 3) this coming August 2014.
Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, KLM, and Delta Airlines are the five (5) airlines that are scheduled to transfer their operations to NAIA 3 as noted by DOTC undersecretary Jose Perpetuo Lotilla.
With the transfer of the five airlines, the total number of international airlines that will be operating in NAIA Terminal 3 will be at six (6) airlines. All Nippon Airways is already operating in the terminal.
The DOTC noted that the five foreign airlines are scheduled to transfer their operations to the NAIA 3 in August upon the completion of the ongoing P1.9 billion retrofitting and rehabilitation project, the DOTC stated.
The rehabilitation project of NAIA Terminal 3 being undertaken by the Takenaka Corporation of Japan is already 62 percent complete, the project is expected to be completed in July 2014, a month ahead of the August scheduled transfer of the five international airlines.
NAIA 3’s rehabilitation project include baggage handling, flight information displays, computer terminals, gate coordination, and fire protection systems, among others to allow a faster and more pleasant experience for passengers flying in and out of Manila.
The main objective of the rehabilitation of both NAIA1 and NAIA3 is bring back NAIA1 back to its design capacity of around 4-4.5 million capacity from its current eight million passengers. NAIA1 is currently undergoing a P1.3 billion rehabilitation project undertaken by construction giant DM Consunji Inc., (DMCI), the expected completion of the project will in January 2015.