After my check-in at terminal 1, I had a lot of time but the staff did not allow me to leave the terminal. This is illegal deprivation of liberty. My Philippine wife has always problems at the check-in with her travel documents, unless they are OK. The staff is complete incompetent or/and corrupt and unfriendly. The food is overpriced and of bad quality. The service is lousy.

NAIA Terminal 1 is a total disaster and leaves the tourist with a really bad feeling. Terminals 2 and 3, on the other hand, are excellent. If the Phils wants to encourage the tourist then all international flights should arrive/depart from T2 or T3.

Terminal 1 - What else can I say, it's cheeky way back 1970's but its too out-dated and a bit cranky esp. the luggage carousel. Needs a "major major" makeover. One good thing though, it has free WiFi access on the pre-boarding gates. Terminal 2 - Used exclusively by PAL and it's clean, nice, and straight forward. International flights berth on the north-wing terminal and the domestic on the south-wing terminal. Connecting international to domestic flights (when you fly PAL) needs transferring from both wings requires you to get out of the lobby and is quite troublesome. Good thing you could check in your connecting domestic flights upon arrival. An exclusive lounge for business travelers. Terminal 3 - Huge, spacious and clean just make your travellator work all the time. Lots of shop and dinners opening that gives you ample choices whether in the departure or on the pre-boarding area. Domestic Airport - No jet bridge, so you get wet when it rains but it still works, at least. A shuttle bus/van would be transfer you between the terminals at US0.50 or grab the airport (yellow) cab starting at US1.60 if your in a rush.

I admit, NAIA 1 is definitely bad compared to the other Asian airports. But I have seen changes in the past months like quicker immigration clearance (though I suspect they don't do a very thorough check when allowing people, especially whites), serviceable trolleys. Still, if I am a first-time tourist coming, I would be very disappointed with the facilities and the personnel. And why are there a lot of airport personnel loitering around doing nothing? And what's with a custom's declaration form separate from the embarkation card, with blatant ads of cheap wine/ciggies or a local cell network? If this country wants to attract some of the tourist dollars, they better spruce up their airports! An airport of more than 50 years needs replacing, can't the government see that?

In the beginning, it was a domestic airport. It was constructed in 1948. Several airlines, including Philippine Airlines, operated here. However, the terminal became outdated as new terminals were built. Philippine Airlines eventually moved out in the 1980s and built their own building, exclusively for their own use. As the 1990s saw the liberalization of the air industry, new airlines were established. Cebu Pacific Air became the largest operator of the terminal since Philippine Airlines a decade ago. As the airline industry grew, the terminal became too crowded for Cebu Pacific's operations. On Aug. 1, 2008 the airline moved all of its operations to the newly built Terminal 3. Congestion has eased since then. New airlines are being established and are making the domestic airport their base of operations. Zest Air is currently the largest operator of the domestic airport.