Sen. Poe calls on Naia to make sure Holy Week travelers are comfortable (2025)

MANILA, Philippines— The management of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) must ensure that passengers using their terminals are comfortable as more and more people travel for the Holy Week break, Senator Grace Poe said on Monday.

Poe in a statement said that Naia’s terminals have to be comfortable and well-ventilated especially since the country is facing the peak of the summer season.

Travelers have already started making their way to different destinations to take advantage of the upcoming holidays, with the Manila International Airport Authority (Miaa) saying earlier that over 150,000 passengers were monitored at Naia just on Palm Sunday.

“Passenger comfort is not rocket science. Clean restrooms, functioning air-conditioning units, and reliable power and water supply are not luxuries but basic requirements at our country’s main gateway,” Poe, who used to be the chairperson of the Senate committee on public services, said.

READ: Naia official: Holy Week passengers could surpass last year’s numbers

“Especially with the hot weather these days, the Naia’s management must ensure that the terminals are cool and well-ventilated,” she added in Filipino.

Enough staffers

According to Poe, enough staffers should be deployed to assist passengers and to avoid long queues and bottlenecks.

“The human component is also critical. Adequate staff should be deployed at check-in desks, baggage handling, immigration and security screening, to ease bottlenecks. There should also be medical and customer service staff to assist passengers in case of disruption,” Poe explained.

“They must also make sure eGates and baggage systems are working. We expect to see comfort and ease under the new NAIA Infra Corporation like centralized hub for taxis and app-based cars as well as doubled driveway lanes,” she added.

Miaa Head Executive Assistant Manuel Jeffrey David said they expect around 550,000 travelers to flock to Naia until Holy Wednesday (April 16) — surpassing the numbers in 2024.

“So last 2024, we have around 500,000 for the half of the Holy Week. So, if you’re basing it from there, and then you add 10 percent, around 550,000 [passengers]. Because we just received the Palm Sunday numbers this morning, we have around 150,000 passengers already,” David told INQUIRER.net in an interview.

“So, comparing that to 2024’s numbers of around 134,000, we are expecting more this week. But, of course, we’re still expecting a lot of passengers either Palm Sunday and Holy Wednesday and Easter Sunday,” he added.

Of the 150,511 passengers monitored on Palm Sunday, Miaa said 73,874 were local travelers, while 76,637 were foreign passengers.

Long weekend

The Bureau of Immigration has deployed additional personnel at Naia as officials anticipate the influx of travelers for the long weekend.

“We have fielded a total of 48 immigration frontliners at NAIA alone to ensure that all immigration counters are fully manned during peak arrival and departure hours,” BI Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said.

READ: BI deploys additional frontliners at NAIA

Poe said she expects the Department of Transportation to work with other concerned agencies like the Philippine National Police (PNP) to address issues.

“Oversight remains crucial. We expect the DOTr to work with the relevant government agencies, airport authorities, the PNP Aviation Security Group, airlines and ground service providers to ensure seamless travel for the coming Holy Week,” she noted.