In the next two months, AirAsia Philippines expects at least 235,000 of its passengers to depart and arrive from Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) 4, the budget airline announced Monday, March 28 during the terminal's official re-opening after a two-year hiatus.
The figure can go higher, given the Holy Week and summer exodus which starts next week.
“The return of domestic operations to NAIA Terminal 4 is a strategic move in managing the expected influx of passengers at Terminal 3 in the coming months," explained AirAsia Philippines Chief Executive Officer Ricky Isla.
"This will optimize overall airline operations from check-in to boarding, helping airlines to significantly improve on-time performance," he added.
The budget airline sees the reopening of the terminal as an indication of the strong recovery momentum of the travel industry.
The Manila Domestic Passenger Terminal has 26 check-in counters and a departure area with a seating capacity of 969 guests.
All AirAsia Philippines domestic flights to and from Manila will operate from hereon at NAIA Terminal 4, while all international flights will remain at NAIA Terminal 3
The transfer to NAIA T4 makes check-in procedures easier, with 12 check-in counters and four AirAsia check-in kiosks to perform contactless transactions by scanning QR codes of flight bookings from mobile devices.
Guests only need to check-in online to generate a code, which will activate the kiosks automatically.
Guests are also no longer required to use aero bridges or undergo bus transfers to board the aircraft.
"We consider foot traffic and increased passenger volume as happy problems for us in the airline industry," said Isla.
"We've been preparing for this for the past months. We encourage our guests to check their booking itinerary to avoid confusion. Our domestic flights may be operating from a different terminal but we apply the same stringent measures to ensure guest safety and convenience with our multi-layered approaches to safety," he noted.
Foot traffic of passengers at T4 is expected to benefit not only the local industries of their destination, but also small and medium enterprises around T4 such as restaurants, convenience stores and travel & tour agencies.