Manila An international website has named Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) among the 10 Worst Airports in the World even as the government said it was doing its best to improve the air-hub facilities.
The United States-based website, the Wall St. Cheat Sheet placed NAIA right up there among the worst ten, pointing out “travellers complained about the airport’s rundown facilities, impolite staff and officials, and long wait times.”
Even before the Wall St. Cheat Sheet review, the NAIA had long been derided for its inadequate facilities. The Guide to Sleeping at the Airports, an online reference, had slammed the airport in the past for its poorly maintained facilities and lack of accommodations that allow passengers to sleep properly when they encounter delay in flights.
But Secretary Herminio Coloma, Jr of the presidential strategic communications office said the government is not sleeping on the job in trying to improve NAIA’s facilities.
“We are continuing to make major physical improvements at NAIA Terminal 1 and just recently, we finished putting into full operation the NAIA Terminal 3,” Coloma said during a press briefing.
The NAIA aerodrome is comprised of three terminals, the NAIA 1, NAIA 2 and the NAIA 3. On July 31, the NAIA 3 was declared fully operational by transportation Secretary Joseph Abaya “seventeen years after the government awarded the concession agreement for the project.”
Aside from the NAIA, other airports that made the dubious distinction included the Charles de Gaulle Airport in France; Italy’s Bergamo Orio al Serio Airport; Zurich International in Switzerland.
