Better NAIA experience felt by September – NNIC

March 7, 2025 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines —  Travelers flying from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) can expect better systems for baggage check-in and biometric screening by September as promised by its private operator.

New NAIA Infrastructure Corp. (NNIC), led by San Miguel Corp., is tapping the services of American innovator Collins Aerospace to improve passenger experience in NAIA.

Collins will bring in new solutions to get NAIA aligned with international standards for aviation, kicking off the project in May with completion slated in September.

Specifically, it will lead the overhaul of pre-flight processing in NAIA, and will introduce reworks to self-service kiosks for luggage check-in. Collins will also place biometric screening to remove some of the document checks that lead to long pre-departure queues.

Collins will also enhance the flight information display system where passengers can monitor the real-time status of arrivals and departures. Likewise, the company will tighten airport safety with pre-security gates and passenger flow management systems.

Further, it will come up with a new airport operational database and resource management system that can be used to improve staff deployment in NAIA.

Collins will also provide the NNIC with a baggage reconciliation system that provides real-time tracking of every checked in bag to minimize cases of lost luggage.

Moreover, it will equip NAIA with new flight trackers and predictive analytics to improve arrival time estimates and enable NNIC to maximize the runway.

NNIC president Ramon Ang said Collins would deploy an on-site team in NAIA by May. Some of the core reworks on baggage tracking, pre-departure processing and resource management can be done by August, but the entirety will be delivered by September.