Flying out? Come to airport early

In anticipation of heavy traffic on roads leading to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia), its management on Tuesday advised travelers to be at their terminals at least three hours before their scheduled flights.

With Christmas just a few days away, Naia Terminal 1 manager Dante Basanta said international flights had started to arrive fully packed with balikbayans and tourists who are here to spend the holidays.

Basanta asked travelers to bear with any inconvenience the influx of passengers may bring. He assured them the airport management was doing everything to ease conditions for both passengers and motorists within the airport complex.

He said airport policemen had been deployed to major intersections to control traffic at peak hours.

Basanta said Terminal 1 handles 106 arriving and departing flights each day with over 12,000 arriving passengers and 11,000 departing travelers.

He said there were three peak-hour windows when traffic to the airport gets really bad. These are from 4 a.m. to 6 a.m., from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., and from 10 p.m. to midnight.

Basanta said that during peak hours, the airport handles over 12 arrivals and departures an hour, which results in overcrowding in the terminals.