AirAsia transfers 3 int’l flights to NAIA 3

MANILA, Philippines - AirAsia Inc., the Philippine unit of low cost carrier AirAsia Berhad of Malaysia, is set to transfer three of its five international flights to Ninoy Aquino International Airport terminal 3 (NAIA3).

AirAsia announced via its Twitter account that flights to Macau, Kota Kinabalu, and Incheon would be transferred to NAIA3 from NAIA4 starting Sept. 15.

 “We’re moving three of our flights to NAIA Terminal 3 starting Sept. 15,” the airline said.

Flights to Kuala Lumpur and Shanghai would remain at NAIA4 together with domestic routes including Cebu, Kalibo, Puerto Princesa, Tagbilaran, and Tacloban.

Takenaka Corp. of Japan has completed the P1.9 billion rehabilitation of NAIA3 paving the way for the transfer of Delta Airlines, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Emirates, Singapore Airlines, and Cathay Pacific Airways from NAIA1.

The P1.3-billion rehabilitation of NAIA1 being undertaken by DMCI Holdings Inc. would be completed by the first quarter of next year as Oman Air, Garuda Indonesia, and Xiamen Air are looking at mounting flights to the Philippines.

Latest data from the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) showed the number of domestic and international passengers increased 3.1 percent to 32.865 million last year from 31.877 million in 2012. The four terminals in NAIA have a combined capacity of only 30 million.