Thousands miss flights due to traffic gridlocks

MANILA, Philippines - Passengers, reportedly in the thousands, missed their flights yesterday due to heavy traffic along roads leading to and from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

Traffic slowed to a crawl at around 9 a.m. and by 7 p.m., motorists were forced to endure a half-hour wait for each meter they went forward.

Airport sources said one of the causes is the construction of the NAIA Expressway project since equipment occupied six of Airport Road’s eight lanes.

The P15.4-billion expressway project aims to link NAIA’s three main terminals with casino and entertainment complexes being developed in Pasay City.

Only around 1,000 passengers were seen at the NAIA Terminal 1 as of 7 p.m. Sources said there are usually around 5,000 passengers at around this time – usually Filipinos bound for the Middle East and foreigners who have connecting flights to Europe.

Many passengers, in a bid to catch their flight, were seen getting out of taxis and private vehicles and walking to the airport, their luggage in tow.

Travelers who flew in from abroad or other parts of the country waited at least two hours before braving southern Metro Manila’s traffic.

Airport officials could not give data on the number of passengers affected by the traffic gridlocks.

Passengers who missed their flights proceeded to airline offices to rebook their flights, but asked that for rebooking fees to be cancelled since they were held up by heavy traffic.