Food, fun, fly

A sneak peek of the newly built Mactan Expo Center in Lapu-Lapu City enabled me to join the media weekend trip to Cebu last week. Built by Megaworld Corp. in the heart of its Cebu Newtown, the Mactan Expo will be formally inaugurated today by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (PBBM) to signal being officially open for business. The Mactan Expo is one of the major venues for the Leaders’ Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) that the Philippines is hosting this year.

The Mactan Expo is Megaworld’s first stand-alone convention center in the 30-hectare Newtown Information Technology special economic zone. Harold Geronimo, head of public relations and media affairs of Megaworld, recalled it was PBBM himself who led the time-capsule laying at its construction site on April 27, 2024. Geronimo cited the P1.5-billion Mactan Expo supports the Department of Tourism’s thrust to entice private sector developers to invest in putting up facilities for meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) in various parts of the Philippines.

It was my first time to visit Cebu again after a long while. Air travel from Manila to Cebu is about 55 minutes. Booked by our Megaworld host on Philippine Airlines (PAL), we departed through the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 2. All PAL domestic flights are assigned to use Terminal 2 (T-2) while PAL international flights have the exclusive use of T-1. The other international carriers use T-3.

Like my Cebu trip, it was my first time to step back again at T-2. It was a very good experience seeing the notable improvements done at one of the country’s premier ports of entry. T-2, along with T-1 and T-3, are now all being run by the New NAIA Infrastructure Corp. (NNIC).

Owned and operated by a conglomerate led by San Miguel Corp. (SMC), the NNIC took over NAIA operations on Sept. 14, 2024. Under the NAIA public-private partnership agreement, the NNIC will modernize the three passenger terminals over a 25-year period. The concession agreement involved a P30-billion upfront payment and P72-billion total investment commitment for modernization.

Key physical changes are now visible, introduced by the NNIC. With a goal of increased capacity from 35 million to 62 million passengers annually, the NNIC aims to boost air traffic movements from 40-42 to 48 per hour; infrastructure upgrades and improved, faster services.

Marked by increased travel of people during the Christmas holiday period, the NNIC reported as many as 2.6 million passengers went through the three NAIA terminals from Dec. 20 last year up to Jan. 4 this year. In terms of flights, the NNIC noted, all three NAIA terminals handled 13,766 domestic and international flights during the same holiday period, more than the year-ago level.

The private operator of the country’s main gateway cited passenger traffic reached 52.02 million during the entire year, the highest annual total recorded for the airport.

“Throughout 2025, NNIC implemented passenger-centric initiatives aimed at improving efficiency, safety and the overall airport experience, while working closely with government partners to support smoother end-to-end travel,” the NNIC declared in an official statement on Jan. 1 this year.

It was not an empty boast, since there are really visible improvements that intermittent travelers like me have experienced after my last travel to Cebu in July 2023. Speaking of end-to-end travel, it was also equally satisfying when we landed at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA). Dubbed as the main international airport serving Metro Cebu, the MCIA is the main gateway to the Central Visayas region.

The MCIA is located on a 797-hectare site in Lapu-Lapu City on Mactan island and has become the second busiest airport in the Philippines. It’s only about 15 kilometers from downtown Cebu City, connected by bridges, making travel between the airport and the city convenient.

The MCIA has two passenger terminals – T-1 handles all domestic flights while T-2 serves all international flights. We have seen not just more modern but a resort-like design, with separate levels for departures and arrivals at T-2.

The MCIA is currently served by 20 airlines operating 13 international routes. T-1 and T-2 are connected by a walkway, making transfers between them easy.

In 2025, MCIA reported passenger traffic hit 11.6 million. This reflected a growth rate of roughly three percent from the 11.3 million posted in 2024. Increase in passenger traffic at the MCIA also reflected rising air travel demand through Cebu, airport operator Aboitiz GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corporation (AGMCAC) claimed. Aboitiz InfraCapital (AIC) vice president and head of airports Rafael Aboitiz was quoted as saying: “2025 has been a landmark year for our airports as we continued to expand connectivity for both domestic and international travelers.”

Seeing such “connectivity” really being implemented gives us a lot of hope on the promises of PBBM in transforming our country’s primary gateways. Turning them into more comfortable, efficient, people-centered and globally competitive airports have put them at par with world-class standards.

What makes our current airport facilities like the NAIA and the MCIA better managed?

It’s because these airport facilities are being managed by private operators that run brisk and robust businesses professionally. Government is a bad manager of business.

Given the comfort and convenience now of the airport facilities, it lessens the usual stress that comes along when we travel. Looking for luggage carts is now a thing of the past. Airport comfort rooms have hotel-grade amenities, from bidet to automatic flush toilets, liquid soap, alcohol and lots of paper tissue.

This is not to mention a lot of food outlets to choose from and souvenir shops and stores which we normally find in malls.

And for workaholic people, there are charging stations for electronic gadgets and mobile phones at every gate, plus free WiFi.

Summing up the airport experience is best captured in a billboard at the end of NAIA-T2 gate stations. Written in big, bold letters: Fun, Food, Fly.