i think i broke ciao's rating system, it doesn't seem to be registering my rates....
i think i broke ciao's rating system, it doesn't seem to be registering my rates....
Member since:07.03.2006
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Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) was moved to its current site, about 7km south of the country's capital city Manila & southwest of Makati City (now the Central Business District and our second home) in 1948. The original airport serving Manila was opened in 1937 and was in what is now Makati City. Unfortunately as with all other "systems" in the Philippines, it just about works in a completely f***** way (sorry for the strong language but there are no other words strong enough to describe the poor state that it is in).
Nonoy Aquino (NAIA) was originally called Manila International Airport, but was renamed after the EDSA Revolution (People Power Revolution) in 1986 which led to the down fall of Ferdinand Marcos - I am sure that if you don't know about Marcos' regime you will know of his wife Emelda, who was famous for her shoes, once accused of having three thousand pairs of shoes, she famously replied "I actually have one thousand six hundred pairs!"
~A little history about the EDSA Revolution~
EDSA stands for Epifanio de los Santos Avenue
which is a main highway in Quezon City, Metro Manila and still exists today, the reason that the Revolution has been named the EDSA revolution is because it was where most of the demonstrations took place.
On 21st August 1983 Benigno Aquino Jr (nicknamed Ninoy, because all Filipinos need a nickname) was assassinated at the then, Manila International Airport after returning from exile in the States. Citizens were outraged and the event shook Marcos' deteriorating government. After Ninoy's assassination, his wife Corazon (Cory) started holding rallies to fight against Marcos' regime. I actually used to attend these rallies as we lived next door to Cory, I was only about one or two years old and used to shout "Cory, Cory, Cory" whilst making a little "C" sign with my fingers (my YaYa (nanny) was an avid Cory supporter as were most of the other staff in our house hold)!
Elections were held on February 7 1986 and surprisingly Marcos won, even though the National Movement for Free Elections stated that Aquino had won by some 800,000 votes - this happens regularly in the Philippines and it is actually happening in the elections at the moment.
Anyway lots more political stuff happened and then on Monday, February 24 the first serious stuff started happening and even though we lived in a really safe guarded area most expats were leaving the country to go to Hong Kong, Singapore etc. However, my Mom missed the fact that a revolution was going on because she was watching Dallas!
~Back to the Airport~
The original NAIA was damaged during a fire in 1981 and a new building was erected which is now NAIA-1 which is currently the main terminal. NAIA-1 is quite a dated airport now, and was due to be replaced with the new NAIA-3 last month, but more about that debacle later. NAIA services 25 Airlines & has 18 air bridges.
NAIA-1 is Manila's main international terminal, which serves all non Philippine Airline flights, and was designed to cope with a capacity of 4.5 million passengers a year. In 1991 NAIA-1 reached its maximum capacity and that is how it has stayed since.
~Arrivals at NAIA-1~ Arriving at NAIA-1 is a bit of a shock, there is a lot of "red-tape" to go through, I use the inverted commas as the real situation is create pointless jobs for people so we can give them jobs. You arrive at immigration and there is normally a substantial queue, normally the people are friendly, but after a 24 hour trek from the UK Brad Pitt could be checking my passport naked and I probably wouldn't notice!
Next for your bags, as you leave the airport there are people to check that you have the correct bags, so don't loose the stubs from your baggage tags otherwise you won't be able to get your bags out of the airport, unless you have a bit of a *wink wink nudge nudge, here's a couple hundred pesos!*
Meeting and greeting is really a non-event, my Dad no longer comes to the airport to pick us up, he lets us negotiate the hell that is finding a taxi and sits at home - clever man! Before, if you had a hotel/tour taxi they would meet you in the terminal to escort you to your car and help you with your bags, and you could book a taxi from inside the terminal building...this seemed to work ok, until some clever sod decided to move all this to the other side of the road outside of the terminal building. OK 24 hours worth of travelling, but sozzled from all the free booze on the plane, new time zone, navigate across a Filipino road avec airport trolley with dodgy wheel....oh joy of joys!!! You finally find your taxi stand - oh joy, you can't really get your trolley through the entrance to book your taxi....I'll be dammed if I am going to leave my bags unattended in any airport let alone this one! OK I now have taxi - say the Hail Mary a couple of times on the way home (Filipino driving is chaotic and they substitute the car breaks for their horns!) - Thank God I made it and in one piece - doh! I don't have exact change, give the driver 1000 pesos (about 10/11squids)...not bad I know, but money goes a lot further here and he made about 4 squids out of me!
~Departures at NAIA-1~ The only airport that I know of where you are not allowed into the airport unless you are a passenger. If you really want to get it and have an old plane ticket lying around take that with you, along with your passport, nobody will notice - but remember to leave through the arrivals exit!
OK, you get there and your passport and ticket is checked, all baggage is placed on an x-ray machine (including hand-luggage) then every now and then they decide they want to have a good ol' rummage through your bags! Next to check-in this normally goes relatively smoothly, but if you have a connecting flight to catch, expect something to get lost or to get frustrated at some point with the check-in staff.
Next you need to buy your airport tax 550 pesos (about 5 squid) - a lot of money out there, and you can face the next queue for your passport and bags to be checked. You finally get through and realise there is nothing to do or look at - try and find a seat somewhere and stay there until your flight is called!
In terms of beers you pay about 50 pesos for a San Miguel (about 50/60p) which I hear you cry is very reasonable, but considering that you can buy a beer for 16pesos outside and get 2pesos back when you return the bottle it is a bit of a rip off. The standard of the shops is pretty average, overpriced souvenir shop, perfume and some duty free, other than that don't expect too much!
Unfortunately I cannot comment on NAIA-2 as I have never had a domestic flight or flown Philippine Airlines.
I can however comment on NAIA-3 - approved for construction in 1997 and completed several years ago, it was due to open in 2001. Recent newspaper reports have stated that it was going to be opening this year....hah! The building itself cost a massive USD$640million and can cope with 13million passengers, but due to a "dispute" between the government and the main contractors the terminal has yet to open. A test run was supposed to happen at the beginning of April, but mysteriously part of the ceiling collapsed in March!
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Advantages: Modern facilities and clean environment Disadvantages: Sometimes chaotic atmosphere due to voluminous arrivals especially during the holiday season
Advantages: Modern facilities and clean environment Disadvantages: Sometimes chaotic atmosphere due to voluminous arrivals especially during the holiday season
Apr 26th, 2006
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