Travelling by plane is a necessity for many people, whether for work or pleasure.
Last year, some 4.5 billion travellers took to the skies from one of the world’s 9,000 airports that are served by commercial airlines.
Every passenger will naturally have their list of favourite/least favourite airports, depending on their travel experience.
Heathrow has received its fair share of criticism, including from industry insiders – some of whom have been left distinctly unimpressed by London’s leading air hub.
The boss of Emirates, Sir Tim Clark, famously described Heathrow as “a dilapidated Second World War airport”.
However, one airport trumps all others when it comes to bad passenger experience, according to a Sunday Times columnist.
In an opinion piece for the UK publication, journalist Cathy Adams called Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) as “truly the worst one in the world”.
“A sprawling, non-air-conditioned Sodom and Gomorrah of four separate terminals only sporadically connected by shuttle,” she wrote.
“Your airline might think you can transit in 90 minutes, but from bitter experience, I can tell you it will take four hours (and usually in the small hours).
“Which is awkward in a country for which transiting in Manila is the only way to get around.”
Manila’s international airport is the primary gateway to the Philippines and its 7,641 islands.
It is named after former senator Ninoy Aquino, who was tragically assassinated at the airport on August 21, 1983.
The airport was designed to handle 35 million passengers annually but processed over 45 million in 2023.
It has two intersecting runways, which means they cannot be used simultaneously.
A consortium led by the San Miguel Corporation took over operations at the airport in September.
The new owners plan to build another terminal featuring 50 boarding gates, which will double the current capacity.
