AFTER years of being dubbed one of the world’s worst airports, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) has finally been named one of the world’s “most improved” airports in 2018, a global survey of London-based research firm Skytrax showed.
Travelers worldwide ranked the Naia—the country’s main gateway—in 10th place in Skytrax’s Top 10 World’s Most Improved Airports.
The survey covered more than 13 million travelers from over 100 different nationalities.
“We are only as good as our last accomplishment. The bigger challenge now is how to sustain it,” Manila International Airport Authority General Manager Ed V. Monreal said.
He expressed gratitude to the millions of passengers who took time to share their Naia experience through the survey. “Their testimonies serve as inspiration for us.”
Monreal, station manager of Cathay Pacific before his present post, said: “The greater recognition goes to the men and women of the Manila International Airport Authority without whose commitment and cooperation, the Naia will not be able to achieve it’s small, but meaningful transformation.”
“The survey operated from August 2017 to February 2018, covering 550 airports worldwide and evaluating traveler experiences across different airport service and product key performance indicators—from check-in, arrivals, transfers, shopping, security and immigration through to departure at the gate. The survey was available in English, Spanish and Chinese language options,” the Skytrax web site stated.
The award was “based on the relative year-on-year quality performance by all airports featured in the World Airport Survey, and takes into account the change in rating, together with performance changes across the different product and service categories in the awards.”
Rome’s Fiumicino airport got the top plum, followed by Perth in Western Australia. Canada’s Calgary in Alberta placed third in the ranking.
Moscow’s Sheremetyevo was eighth, followed by Intercontinental in Houston, Texas. Taiwan’s Taoyuan Airport was fifth, followed by Athens, Nadi International Airport in Fiji and Montreal in Canada.