Philippines airport terminal ‘world’s worst’

AFP

Manila

The Philippines’ main Manila airport terminal has been named the world’s worst for the second year in a row in a survey by an online travel website.

Officials yesterday brushed off the survey results, insisting conditions were being improved.

“The Guide to Sleeping in Airports” website said Manila’s crowded Terminal 1 was ranked by travellers based on comfort, convenience, cleanliness and customer service to be the worst in the world.

Reviews for Manila’s Terminal 1 posted on the site mentioned “dilapidated facilities”, dishonest airport workers —particularly taxi drivers — ong waiting times and rude officials.

“These are old issues,” Manila airport Terminal 1 manager Dante Basanta said, adding that the problems were already being addressed by the government. He conceded that the Manila airport, with a capacity of about 6.5mn passengers annually, was overstretched, handling 8.1mn travellers last year. The terminal at the Italian airport of Bergamo was named the second-worst, where it said there were “people loafing around without T-shirt or without shoes as if they were in their homes and no one gives a hoot”.

Its third-worst was Kolkata, just edging out Islamabad, ahead of Paris Beauvais.

The best rated airports were Singapore Changi, Seoul Incheon, Amsterdam Schiphol, Hong Kong and Helsinki Vantaa. Manila’s Terminal 1, the oldest of its four passenger terminals, was built 32 years ago. The government has launched a 2.5bn-peso ($58mn) renovation programme for the terminal.