JANUARY 2026 turned out to be a milestone month for air travel, as the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) logged 4.96 million passengers, the highest monthly traffic in its history, riding the momentum of a strong holiday season and sustained demand for both local and overseas trips.
New NAIA Infra Corp. (NNIC), the airport’s private operator, said the figure surpassed the 4.86 million passengers recorded in December 2025, making January the busiest month ever for the country’s main gateway.
The surge was fueled by the extended holiday travel period from December 20 to January 4, when nearly 2.6 million travelers passed through NAIA’s terminals.
Travel peaked on January 4, with 180,089 passengers—the highest single-day volume recorded at the airport to date.
International travel continued to lead the growth, with 2.42 million international passengers in January, up 8.16 percent from the same month last year and the highest monthly international traffic NAIA has seen. Domestic travel also remained strong, as 2.54 million passengers flew within the country, marking a 3.16 percent year-on-year increase.
Despite the heavy foot traffic, airport operations remained steady, supported by improvements rolled out over the past year. These include terminal upgrades, the introduction of biometric immigration e-gates and passenger processing systems, and closer coordination among airlines, government agencies, and airport service providers to ease queues and manage passenger flow.
NAIA remains the country’s primary aviation hub for both domestic and international flights. Under its public-private partnership with the government, NNIC oversees the airport’s operations, maintenance, and modernization, while ownership stays with the state.
Since taking over NAIA operations in September 2024, NNIC has remitted P62.7 billion to the national government as of January 2026, in line with the terms of its concession—underscoring how the airport’s growing passenger numbers are translating into broader economic gains.
