The Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) has been designated the fourth worst airport in Asia and the Middle East by business class travelers, according to a recent survey by BusinessFinancing.co.uk. Scoring only 2.78 out of a possible 10, NAIA falls significantly behind its Southeast Asian neighbors, with Vietnam’s Noi Bai International Airport and Singapore’s Changi Airport leading the rankings as the best airports worldwide, scoring 6.8 and 6.63 respectively.
The survey highlighted other top airports, including Hong Kong International Airport in China and Hamad International Airport in Qatar, alongside Japan’s Narita International Airport and Haneda Airport, for their exemplary services to business travelers. On the contrary, Kuwait International Airport found itself at the very bottom of the list with a score below two, with Almaty International Airport in the Middle East and King Abdulaziz International Airport in Saudi Arabia also ranking poorly.
The evaluation by BusinessFinancing.co.uk was based on passenger reviews from Airline Quality, focusing specifically on feedback from business class travelers. The process involved ranking the airports first by country, then continentally, taking into consideration aspects like passenger queuing times where NAIA previously ranked eighth worst in Asia, according to travel specialist Casago.
Despite these challenges, there’s hope for NAIA’s improvement. San Miguel Corp. (SMC) has won a 15-year concession, with an option to extend for another 10 years, to rehabilitate, operate, and maintain NAIA. The conglomerate plans to invest at least P122.3 billion to enhance the airport’s facilities and increase its passenger capacity to at least 62 million annually, aiming to significantly improve the overall passenger experience.