Naia logs 1.29-M Undas passengers, beating projection

MANILA, Philippines — The country’s main gateway saw a busier-than-expected Undas season, with passenger traffic growing faster than expected during the nine-day travel period despite elevated airfares.

A total of 1.29 million passengers passed through Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) from Oct. 27 to Nov. 4, according to its private operator, New Naia Infra Corp. (NNIC).

READ: 1.25M passengers seen at NAIA during ‘Undas’ travel rush

That marked a 4.4-percent increase from the 1.24 million travelers recorded in 2025. It also exceeded the operator’s conservative projection of 1 percent growth, or around 1.25 million passengers.

Based on NNIC’s final count, international traffic accounted for a slightly larger share of passengers at 649,691, up 3.94 percent from 625,056 last year.

Domestic traffic, however, grew faster at 4.86 percent to 642,194 passengers from 612,419.

Oct. 30, a Friday, was the busiest day at NAIA during this year’s Undas, with 153,901 passengers passing through the airport. This surpassed NNIC’s forecast of 149,216 travelers for that day.

The peak came ahead of the long weekend, with Malacañang declaring Nov. 1 and 2 special nonworking days for All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day.

The stronger-than-expected turnout showed sustained travel demand during one of the country’s busiest holiday periods, when Filipinos usually return to their provinces or take advantage of the break for leisure trips.

Ahead of this year’s Undas travel rush, NNIC said it deployed additional personnel and strengthened coordination with airlines, ground handlers, transport providers, and government agencies.

A round-the-clock command center at Terminal 2 oversaw airport operations and incident response throughout the travel period.

Additional screening personnel, immigration counters and security patrols were also deployed to facilitate passenger movement during peak hours.

READ: Naia expects Undas season passenger count to exceed 1 million

Meanwhile, public assistance desks at Terminals 1, 2 and 3 helped travelers with inquiries and other concerns.

NNIC also coordinated traffic management around the airport and maintained inter-terminal shuttle services to support passenger transfers.

The operator said it would continue improving passenger processing, terminal access, and airport facilities as Naia accommodates growing travel demand. /pai