Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3, simply known as NAIA-3, is the newest and largest terminal at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport complex, the airport serving the Manila metropolitan area, Philippines. Terminal 3 is built on a lot that sits on Villamor Air Base. The terminal building has a total floor area of and has a total length of. A four-level shopping mall connects the terminal and parking buildings. The parking building has a capacity of 2,000 cars and the outdoor parking area has a capacity of 1,200 cars. The terminal is capable of servicing 33,000 passengers daily at peak or 6,000 passengers per hour. A 220-meter long footbridge that opened in April 2017, known as Runway Manila, connects the terminal with Newport City. The bridge contains moving walkways and can accommodate about 2,000 persons at any given time. Its apron area has a size of. The terminal has 34 jet bridges and 20 contact gates with the ability of servicing 28 planes at a time. The terminal has 70 flight information terminals, 314 display monitors, and of fiber optic I.T. cabling. It also has 29 restroom blocks. The departure area has five entrances all equipped with X-ray machines with the final security check having 18 X-ray machines. Its baggage claim has 7 large baggage carousels, each with its own flight display monitor. Terminal 3 has the capacity to handle 13 million international passengers annually. It has 24 gates and 140 check-in desks.
History
Construction started on Terminal 3 in 1997. Since construction, the terminal has been at the center with legal battles, red tape, and arbitration cases in both the United States and Singapore, as well as technical and safety concerns which delayed its opening several times. The terminal officially opened to selected domestic flights from July 22, 2008, with Cebu Pacific international flights using it from August 1, 2008. All international operations, except for those from PAL, are intended to operate from Terminal 3 in the future, originally proposed to move in fourth quarter of 2010, however domestic carriers Cebu Pacific and Airphil Express remained the only tenants for the first two years of its operation. The vast majority of international flights still operate from Terminal 1 except for All Nippon Airways being the first foreign-based carrier to operate out of Terminal 3 started on February 27, 2011. The terminal underwent a rehabilitation under the contractor Takenaka Corp. of Japan to improve its facilities and utilize the whole terminal. Previously, it only operated at half of its capacity awaiting the completion of the remaining system works. The terminal became fully operational on August 1, 2014, leading to the transfer of five international airlines to Terminal 3 to ease congestion at Terminal 1 starting with Delta Air Lines on that day, followed by KLM on August 4, Emirates on August 15, Singapore Airlines on September 1, and Cathay Pacific on October 1. Both United Airlines and Qantas are relocated to Terminal 3 from Terminal 1 on October 28, 2018. Middle Eastern carriers Qatar Airways was also relocated to Terminal 3 on December 1, 2018, and Turkish Airlines transferred to on January 1, 2019.
Airbus A380
Although there are no regular passenger A380 flights to Manila except for maintenance, Terminal 3 has proved capable of handing Airbus A380 passengers and flights on October 7, 2014, when Emirates flew a one-off commercial A380 flight to Manila to commemorate their transfer from Terminal 1.
Operations
is the primary user of Terminal 3 and other foreign airlines like All Nippon Airways, Cathay Pacific, and Delta Air Lines are one of the foreign airlines operating the terminal.
