NAIA-4 goes international

NAIA-4 had been known for a long time under the name “Old Domestic Terminal”. Some years ago, Cebu Pacific Air, SEAIR and Asian Spirit operated from this terminal. Now NAIA-4 goes international.

Cebu Pacific Air grew to the biggest low cost carrier (LCC) in the Philippines and moved to NAIA-3. The old SEAIR had been taken over by TigerAir Philippines. This airline is now merged with Cebu Pacific Air but still operates under the brand TigerAir from NAIA-4. Asian Spirit became Zest Air and has now been integrated in Airasia Philippines. The old/new SEAIR operates now from Clark airport.

NAIA-4 is now being completely overhauled. Most of the heavy works are achieved. The real big missing thing is the flight information systems. One can see miles of cables hanging from the ceiling. On the walls and above the gates the mounting-racks for the displays are already installed. But meanwhile all flights are called and ground staff runs around with cardboard panels indicating the next destination to leave.

 AirAsia Philippines check-in

Bad news for all smokers! The smoking lounge has been transformed into a shop. Currently one can not smoke inside the terminal building of NAIA-4.

[GARD]

The waiting lounge has not grown. The space is absolutely not sufficient for the waiting passengers.

The waiting lounge has not grown – it even shrunk. In the background one can see the new lounge for the international departures. All this space got lost for the mostly domestic flights passengers in NAIA-4.

It is not yet clear how the international flights are handled. We also still lack of information how the arrival section of NAIA-4 looks at this moment.

After our latest NAIA experience, we prefer to fly through Cebu-Mactan International Airport (CEB). This airport is much more human and has enough reserves to be transformed in a real world class airport. We only wonder when the big airlines will come back to CEB. Our next flight is already booked through CEB. We’ll fly ZRH-SIN-CEB-CGM. 2 hours in the night will be enough to transfer in Cebu-Mactan International Airport.

See also our updated Manila Airport Guides

[GARD]