CAB sees 1.5 million passengers this year in newly reopened NAIA Terminal 4

File photo of Naia airport. AFP

MANILA, Philippines — The newly reopened Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Terminal 4 may only accommodate 1.5 million passengers this year due to the number of routes available, the Civil Aeronautics Board (Cab) said Tuesday.

The Naia Terminal 4 reopened for domestic passengers on March 28 after it was closed for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cab operations head Eldric Peredo said that Naia Terminal 4 can cater three million passengers yearly.

“Ayon sa ating MIAA (Manila International Airport Authority), ang annual na kayang i-accommodate ng Terminal 4 ay nasa three million passengers,” Peredo said in a Laging Handa public briefing.

(According to MIAA, the annual accommodation capacity of Terminal 4 is around three million passengers.)

“Sa ngayon, sa bilang ng mga ruta na nandoon, natatantsa natin na nasa mga 30,000 ang pasahero weekly kung mapupuno ng mga airline operators ‘yung kanilang bilang ng operations doon ngayon, at papalo ‘yan ng mga 1.5 million lang po annually,” he added.

(Currently, with the number of routes there, we estimate that there will be around 30,000 passengers weekly if airline operators complete their number of operations, and it will reach 1.5 million only annually.)

To date, Cebgo has 14 routes, AirAsia has 11 routes, and AirSWIFT has three routes in Naia Terminal 4, said Peredo.

He likewise noted that all pre-pandemic flights in Naia Terminal 4 will return.

To recall, only Naia Terminals 1, 2, and 3 remained operational while Terminal 4 was closed in a bid to reduce losses during the limited operations amid the pandemic.

JPV