Monitoring check-in counters at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA)’s Terminal 3, where ongoing upgrades are aimed at improving passenger flow and operational efficiency, the new New NAIA Infra Corporation (NNIC) has recorded a 2.6 percent increase in year-on-year
International passenger traffic.
According to NNIC, statistics showed that the passenger traffic rose to 19.93 million from January 1 to October 22, 2026, as travel demand remained resilient despite disruptions to global aviation linked to the conflict in the Middle East.
NNIC chief-operating-officer Jong Hoon ‘John’ Kim disclosed that the increase represents 507,772 more international passengers than the 19.42 million recorded during the same period last year.
He said traffic continues to grow this October with 1.39 million international passengers recorded in the first 22 days, up 2.05 percent from the same period in 2025.
International passengers accounted for 48.1 percent of NAIA’s total passenger traffic, up from 46.6 percent a year earlier. Domestic passenger traffic, meanwhile, declined 3.4 percent to 21.49 million.
Relatively, the increase comes as airlines add, resume or announce new international services to and from Manila.
Air France has resumed services to the Philippines, while Philippine Airlines (PAL) is scheduled to launch nonstop flights to Chicago this coming November and to Delhi and Mumbai in December, subject to regulatory approval for the Indian routes.
Delta Air Lines is likewise scheduled to begin nonstop service between Los Angeles and Manila in March the coming year, initially three times a week before increasing to daily service in June.
Indian carrier IndiGo is also expected to introduce Manila services soon with proposed flights to India.
