Transportation officials have welcomed the exclusion of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) from the list of the worst airports in the world.
“Work, work, work lang. While it is good that we are not listed among the worst, let us work even harder to be included among the best,” Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade said in a news statement issued on Wednesday, as he welcomed the latest survey of The Guide To Sleeping In Airports, which now showed that the Naia is no longer included in the top 20 worst airports in the globe.
“We should be careful that we do not backslide. The show must go on—and better!” he added.
Tugade said that this development is just the beginning of more improvements, as he reminded Department of Transportation employees not to be complacent, as there are many things yet to be done and improved at the Naia.
Manila International Airport Authority General Manager Ed Monreal, for his part, said such feat is a “fruit of their hard work.”
“The bigger challenge is to maintain or even surpass our achievement,” he added.
To recall, the survey included the Naia among the world’s worst airports in 2016, when it placed fifth among the worst due to the bullet planting and extortion incidents during the first half of that year. It was addressed by the second semester of the same year.
The Naia started earning the title in 2013, and continued on until 2013. By 2014, it placed fourth in the worst airports in the world. The following year, it got removed from the list, but was still touted as the eighth worst airport in Asia.
Among the reforms implemented in the Naia during the Duterte administration were the restriction on general aviation to prioritize commercial flights and reduce flight delays; the imposition of the five-minute rule to reduce flight delays and instill discipline among airlines; and the construction of rapid-exit taxiways to allow an aircraft to leave the runway at higher speed and increase flight movements.
Meanwhile, four Philippine airports once again joined the list of the top 25 best airports in Asia for this year. They are Iloilo International Airport, Mactan-Cebu International Airport, Clark International Airport and the Davao International Airport. PNA, Lorenz Marasigan, Recto Mercene