Baby Steps

Most Filipinos who have traveled abroad have a lot of negative adjectives to describe the NAIA 1 airport. They range from the basic (ugly) to the more specific (mukhang bus terminal). That's not hard to imagine considering the number of gleaming metal and glass airports around the region. Surprisingly though, I have met a number of foreigners who have opinions that differ from the locals.

My American colleague thinks our airport is convenient because of its compact size. This is partly true because of the "bigger is better" trend in new airports. In fact, passengers going through Beijing terminal 3 are asked to be there at least 3 and a half hours before the flight because it's a long, long, long walk to the gates. But that's another story.

Another European traveler who I shared a flight with described it as "simple and no-frills, just the way I like things." Again, this is true because I can get out of the plane and get to the parking lot in 15 minutes, barring the long immigration queue. In HK, it takes at least an hour for you to get from the tube to the arrival area. This illustrates the "bigger might not necessarily be better" principle.

While waiting for the new NAIA 3 airport to open (which I hope happens soon because it's such a waste of good architecture) it's good that MIAA is sprucing up the old NAIA, albeit bit by bit. Since January, I've noticed the little renovations they're doing and these "cosmetic procedures" are long overdue.

This is the old entrance to the terminal building:


Now, they've added an air conditioned anteroom where passengers can queue more comfortably while the guards check their travel documents. In the arrival area, I've also noticed that they've spruced up the tubes and some of the gates, as well as replaced the old glass that divides the departing passengers from the arriving ones. Some of the waiting areas have also been fitted with new carpets and seats, although they're still not cushioned.

Looking at it from a structural perspective, the airport isn't as bad as a lot of people say it is. I think Leandro Locsin did a great job designing its shape and flow. Having gone in and out of that airport SO many times, I noticed that the materials make it look old and dated. I mean, dark wood, textured concrete, brown aluminum frames and tinted glass? Hello! Can you say 80s? (Then again, it was built in 1981, so it's really designed to look 80s.)



Since MIAA is on a renovating mood anyway, I think a little more updating in terms of materials will give NAIA 1 a more contemporary feel. And I've thought of these materials while waiting for my delayed flight last Monday.

- Remove the brown aluminum frames and replace them with clear, frame less glass.
- Cover the concrete areas the Alcobond material that they've used on the new ante area.
- Change the wooden railings to metal ones.
- Gradually replace the antique-looking check in counters with sleek, modern ones.
- Tidy up the immigration counters because the present ones have a lot of chipped paint.
- Get new tenants for the shops inside. (Those shops DO remind me of a bus terminal. Grade school handicraft projects, anyone?)
- Cushioned seats.

Materials. I think that will make a lot of difference. Structurally, the old airport has more character and soul. The new ones, albeit sleek and modern, look like every other new airport around the world. If they can just modernize NAIA 1, I think it'll look much better than new NAIAs. If they continue to take baby steps, just like they're doing now, walking in and out of the airport would be a better and more positive experience.