Airline passengers packing Terminal 1 of Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) better get ready with towels, hand fans, cold beverages and loads of patience as officials warn of more months of rising temperatures inside the facility.
Jose Angel Honrado, general manager of Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), said work had begun to overhaul the terminal’s air-conditioning system, starting with the replacement of 36 old units.
“Under the circumstances, we humbly seek the continued support and understanding of our airport users. Let us instead look forward to the good that all these efforts will bring to us and to our country at large,” Honrado said in a statement on Saturday.
Honrado earlier admitted that the rehabilitation effort for the terminal—often listed among the worst in the world—was a challenge to the MIAA and to the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) since it would remain open to the public while the upgrades are in progress.
The first batch of 17 brand new air-conditioning units—which in airport engineering parlance are called air-handling units (AHUs)—has already been delivered to MIAA, he said. The replacement will be done in clusters to prevent sharp rises in temperatures in specific areas.
Among the areas to be affected by the replacement of the first 17 AHUs are sections of the arrival level, including the baggage reclaim and customs offices, and also the eastern section of the check-in hall of the departure level.
Airline and government offices at the fourth level. The passenger lounges of Japan Airlines, Thai Airways, Singapore Airlines and Korean Airlines, will also be feeling the heat.
According to Honrado, the replacement of the first 17 AHUs is expected to take up to November, while the installation of the next 19 units would take up to March next year.
Since 2011, NAIA 1 had been reeling from bad press as one of the world’s worst airports, no thanks to its aging toilets, waiting areas, etc.
It has also seen a growing number of passengers fainting due to the “oven-like” heat, as irate netizens once described it.
A lawyer and politician, Samson Alcantara, went on to file a P1.5-million damage suit against MIAA and an airline company after he fainted while in a queue for a flight in May.