Facelift of 'world's worst airport' starts this week

MANILA, Philippines - The rehabilitation of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1, dubbed as the 'world's worst airport,' will finally start this week, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) reported on Wednesday.

The P1.3-billion facelift, to be led by D.M. Consunji, Inc. who won the bid last December, includes structural retrofitting, improvement of mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection facilities, and architectural works. The project is expected to finish in a year, and will involve the closure of certain parts of the terminal.

“We appeal for patience and cooperation from passengers taking Terminal 1. These minor inconveniences will result in a much-improved NAIA, with better facilities and services for the public, in a year’s time,” DOTC Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya said. The closures of certain portions of NAIA 1 will be done in six phases of 60 days each.

Travel website Sleeping in Airports rated NAIA 1 as the world's worst aiport in 2011, the worst in Asia in 2012 and worst again in 2013. This year, Wall St. Cheat Sheet, a United States-based financial media company, ranked the airport 8th worst for being 'particularly crammed.'

The airport terminal's rehabilitation is part of two projects launched by DOTC this week to mark its 115th founding anniversary. The other project is the Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3, a 14.82-kilometer, six-lane elevated highway extension of the Skyway from Buendia, Makati to Balintawak, Quezon City. The project is expected to decongest traffic on EDSA and other major roads by 55,000 vehicles daily. It also aims to cut travel time from Buendia to Balintawak from almost two hours to only 20 minutes. Construction will begin in April 2014 and will finish in April 2017.