MANILA, Philippines — Despite global aviation disruptions from the Middle East, international passenger traffic at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) grew 2.6 percent year-on-year to 19.93 million from January 1 to October 22, 2026.
New NAIA Infra Corp.(NNIC) reported that the airport handled 507,772 more international passengers than the 19.42 million recorded during the same period last year.
This growth continued into October, with traffic rising 2.05 percent to 1.39 million passengers in the first 22 days of the month.
"It's encouraging to see international passenger traffic continuing to grow despite the challenges affecting aviation worldwide. It shows that demand for travel to and from the Philippines remains strong," NNIC General Manager Lito Alvarez said. "Our responsibility is to make sure NAIA can support that demand with better facilities, more reliable operations, and a better experience for passengers."
International passengers accounted for 48.1 percent of NAIA's total traffic, up from 46.6 percent a year earlier. In contrast, domestic passenger volume declined 3.4 percent to 21.49 million. To meet demand, airlines are expanding services to Manila.
According to NNIC, Air France has resumed flights, while Philippine Airlines will launch nonstop flights to Chicago in November, followed by Delhi and Mumbai in December (pending regulatory approval for the Indian routes).
Looking ahead, Delta Air Lines will launch nonstop flights between Los Angeles and Manila in March 2027, starting three times weekly before expanding to daily service in June. Indian carrier IndiGo is also expected to introduce Manila routes soon.
This expansion aligns with NAIA ranking sixth globally for international low-cost carrier connectivity in OAG's 2026 Megahubs index.
This traffic surge coincided with better operational efficiency. NAIA's system-wide on-time performance (OTP) improved to 81.07 percent from 77.92 percent last year.
The 3.15-percentage-point improvement occurred even as NNIC modernized the terminal during active operations. On-time arrivals averaged 82.09 percent, while departures recorded 80.05 percent.
In 2025, NAIA handled a record 52 million passengers, heavily surpasing its original design capacity of 35 million annually.
