I took some photos of the NAIA Terminal 2 arrival area while waiting for my in-laws to arrive from Singapore via Philippine Airlines. Terminal 2, which is also called the Centennial Terminal after opening in 1998, the 100th year of Philippines’ Independence, is exclusively used by Philippine Airlines for both its domestic and international operations. The North Wing serves international passengers while the South Wing serves domestic passengers.

Gate and fence separating the tarmac from the VIP parking area just behind the cafe at the international wing of NAIA Terminal 2 – I was actually taking a photo of the windblown coconut trees and the dark clouds generated by a slow-moving typhoon Gener.

VIP parking area at the NAIA T2 that is near the gate access to the tarmac. The building in the background is what used to be the Philippine Village Hotel. The building has been unoccupied for many years now and is up for demolition and re-development along with the old Nayong Filipino theme park.

Stairs to the departure level of NAIA-T2 with the control tower in the background

Cafe just outside the arrival level – I usually have a snack or tea at this cafe if I have time before the plane arrives

The waiting area has benches for people waiting for their relatives or friends

Small screen showing information on aircraft arrivals just above the public phones

7Coffee shop and screens at the arrival area. This is the only shop in the area as the other concessionaire closed up months ago.

The screens show passengers arriving at the baggage claim area inside the airport and as they exit from the customs checkpoints.

People could see passengers lining up at the immigration counters from the waiting area outside the terminal

Spacious arrival concourse exclusive to passengers (well-wishers are not allowed here). The yellow sign indicates the small duty-free shop near the exit from the terminal building.

Passengers transferring to the departure level can take the escalator shown in the photo. The escalator, however, seems to be always under maintenance and unavailable. There is another on the other end of the International Wing of the terminal.

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I finally had the opportunity to take some quick photos as we drove through the departure level of NAIA’s Terminal 3. The objective was to take a few photos of the still closed multi-level parking facility adjacent to the terminal building, which could be accessed both from the ground and upper level driveways. It was late afternoon and it looked like it was going to rain so the photos were not as good as I would have liked them to be. Still, they clearly show the unused parking facility of T3 that could have been quite helpful to a lot of travelers especially those who wanted to leave their vehicles at the airport a few days or nights for short trips.

Driveway along the departure level of NAIA Terminal 3

Motor vehicle exit ramp from the departure level – the parking building is seen on the right

The parking building is seen immediately after the passenger terminal gates for departures

After unloading passengers and well-wishers, drivers could have proceeded to the parking building via the ramp from the second level driveway (shown at the right in the photo).

Ramp to Andrews Avenue – the Newport City development that contains several hotels including a Marriott Hotel and Resorts World Manila is located in the complex.

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I had another opportunity to explore NAIA’s Terminal 3 last weekend. The following photos were taken while walking around to kill time while I waited for the arrival of a friend I was fetching at the airport. I arrived early at the terminal assuming it would be difficult to get a parking slot and that the flight would be arriving on time. I ended up eating dinner and having a nice stroll around the terminal building.

Check-in counters for ANA and Zest Air

Shops at the third level of the air terminal (2nd level of the departure area) – there’s also a Mini Stop and 7-Eleven at the terminal.

Most of the shops appear to be outlets for popular brands like Nike, Adidas, Oakley, Delsey, etc.

Queues before the Cebu Pacific counters for domestic flights.

There are many restaurants including the recognizable ones like Shakey’s Pizza, Pancake House, Kenny Rogers, Yellow Cab Pizza and Jollibee.

Screens showing flights scheduled for departure and arrival via NAIA Terminal 3.

Spacious halls of the arrival area of Terminal 3 – surprisingly, the area was not crowded at the time (it was around 6:30 PM when the photo was taken)

Information counters for visitors

Tourist information counter of the Department of Tourism

Newly opened Burger King at the ground level / arrival area of Terminal 3

This way leads to the unopened area of the terminal, which includes space for more shops and the multi-level parking building. On the left side across Burger King are ATMs and counters of banks for currency exchange.

Arrival information just before the exit from baggage claim and customs

Well-wishers view of passengers coming from the baggage claim area for domestic arrivals

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Taking the 5:30 AM flight to Roxas City, we had to be at the airport at least an hour before the ETD. We decided to come earlier in order to be able to get good seats. We were taking Philippine Airlines and the airline didn’t have an online check-in facility (!) so we decided to be there 90 minutes prior to the ETD. That meant leaving our homes around 3:00 PM to make it to the airport by 4:00 AM despite the fact that traffic is usually free flowing at those hours.

Check-in: There were few passengers at the airport despite the many early morning flights. Perhaps the fact that Terminal 2 has separate wings for domestic and international passengers also partly explain this, aside from the fact that fewer people are taking PAL. We noticed during check-in that the ground staff seemed slower than before. The staff in red uniform are supposed to be relatively new as PAL decided to outsource many of its services to cut costs.

Departure lounge: The departure area is not at all crowded and you can choose wherever you want to sit while waiting for your flight to be called. Even the cafes were not crowded and we easily got a table where we could drink our coffee while waiting for the boarding call.

Boarding gates: The gates at NAIA’s Terminal 2 look like this with a counter in front of the gate. Only staff are supposed to be behind the counter considering security implications and issues. This wasn’t the case when I was at the same airport for a US flight last year. The ground staff who were apparently newbies along with the security people paid no attention to one foreigner charging his phone behind the counter and talking it up with staff about what’s on their computer screen!

Concessionaires: There are many concessionaires inside the departure area of T2 and fortunately they open early for passengers wanting to have a quick bite or drink before their flights. Some passengers may also have to purchase last minute pasalubong and among the popular items are cakes and pastries from either Goldilocks or Red Ribbon. Terminal 3 is much better though as there are many restaurants and shops in the terminal where passengers and well-wishers can have their meals.

Neat and clean: Terminal 2 is not as big and neat as Terminal 3, which serves the Cebu Pacific, AirPhil Express, PAL Express and ANA flights (T2 only serves PAL). Nevertheless, I think the facilities are much better than Terminal 1 and that includes the toilets. It would seem to me that the floors are good enough for one to sit or even lie on while waiting for your boarding call. I wouldn’t recommend it though.

The Centennial Terminal, as T2 is also called, is supposed to remain as PAL’s terminal even after Terminal 3 would have been fully operational. One plan called for all international flights to be serviced from T3 while all domestic flights, except those of PAL, will be at T1. Hopefully, these re-assignment of services will be done after T1 is renovated. So far, I haven’t got news about the proposed renovation including whether this will push through at all. Manila definitely needs good airport terminals if only to make a good first impression on visitors. Airports, after all, are gateways and provide visitors with a preview of what a country can offer.

Arriving at NAIA, aircraft may proceed to one of 4 terminals operating at the complex – Terminal 1 (international), Terminal 2 (international and domestic flight operated by PAL), Terminal 3 (Cebu Pacific, PAL Express and Air Phil Express and ANA of Japan). Despite the fact that the airport is fully equipped for servicing aircraft, most equipment apparently are not being used for various reasons including preserving such equipment for when the terminal will be in full operation. In certain cases such as the immigration and customs booths on the area designated for domestic operations, the equipment/furniture are not required at all. One common observation for most passengers using T3 is the non-use of the tube or air bridges by Cebu Pacific, which requires passengers to board and alight using the stairs and, in many cases, still require the same to climb back to the air bridge to walk to the arrival area!

A common experience for domestic and international passengers is to board or deplane without the benefit of using the tube or airbridge of Terminal 3. This was apparently to shorten boarding and alighting time for faster turnarounds for Ceb PAc. I was to learn later that there also aren’t enough airbridge operators at the terminal.

An inutile airbridge at Terminal 3. It seems these are not used by airlines for one reason or another – a definite disbenefit to passengers.

It’s a long walk from the tarmac to the baggage claim area. For passengers on international flights, they would have to go through immigration first after the long walk.

Long hallways without the benefit of moving walkways are always an inconvenience to passengers, some of whom would probably require assistance. Of course, there are passengers who opt to cheat with their carry on allowance so one can say they should blame themselves when burdened with more than what is allowed for carry ons.

Immigration booths on the domestic wing of T3 are unoccupied and probably should be reconsidered in case the airport will continue to be used for both domestic and international operations.

Past the immigration area, passengers would descend via stairs or escalator to the baggage claim area.

Passengers waiting around the carousel – there was a time when one had to pay for the use of carts. Fortunately, that was scrapped during the last decade.

Notice to passengers picking up their baggage from the carousel. T3 personnel do not check the baggage tags when passengers exit the area. The same is true for T1. Only in T2 (Centennial Terminal) do staff strictly check baggage tags, minimizing the chances of one’s luggage being taken (mistakenly or otherwise) by other people.

First bags out unto the carousel

Spacious area for baggage claim – there are actually several carousels but airlines use only 1 or 2 carousels despite so many flights being handled  by T3.

Since T3 was originally conceptualized as an international terminal, the wing used for domestic operations still have an area for customs operations. Like the immigration booths, these are unmanned and passengers just breeze through to exit the arrival/baggage claim area.

View for passengers exiting from the baggage claim and/or customs – one can easily see people waiting for arrivals, some with signs bearing names of persons they are meeting.

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With the recent withdrawal of charges by PIATCO, the full operations of NAIA’s Terminal 3 should be underway. Until now, the operations of the terminal has been at best limited despite the increasing number of flights being handled by the terminal with the continuing growth of Cebu Pacific and the addition of Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA) to the few airlines that have made Terminal 3 their home in the Manila. With plans for the much maligned Terminal 1 to be renovated and the impasse on what to do at Clark, it is expected that more international flights will be handled at T3. Following are photos of the Terminal 3 North Wing departure area from a recent trip. The North Wing handles the domestic flights while the South is for international operations.

Departure area along the linear Terminal 3’s North Wing

There are already many passengers taking the early morning flights. This photo was taken at around 4AM and shows shops to the right along the corridor and the seats lined up along the left. The walkalator or conveyor was not functioning just like at the other wing (I am unsure of the reasons but this was probably to reduce operations and maintenance costs.).

Our gate was at the end of the wing and there were few people when I arrived at the area. Other passengers can be seen napping across several seats as they wait for their flights to be called.

I guess its clear from the photos that Terminal 3 is clean and orderly though many facilities like the moving walkways are not currently operational and there is still the issue regarding the non-operation of the multi-storey car park for the terminal. Hopefully, such issues are eventually resolved and the full operation of the airport for international flights is indeed something to look forward to.

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