By March next year, island-bound travelers will have to contend with the problem of looking for flights outside of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
The San Miguel Corporation-operated New NAIA Infra Corp. (NNIC), through its Manila Slot Coordination Committee (MSCC), has set a deadline of 26 March 2026 for the transfer of turboprop flight services out of NAIA, just as the 2026 summer season starts.
This means there will be no more turboprop flights to island destinations like Batanes, Coron and Siargao from NAIA.
“The private operator doesn’t want them, and the NNIC doesn’t want them either,” an airport insider revealed to Nosy Tarsee.
He explained that the bigger the airplane that lands, the more passengers it carries, and the more profit NNIC makes.
“Since the airport has been privatized, their focus is on profit. So they prefer jets over turboprops. A turboprop can carry around 70 to 80 passengers, while a jet can carry 160 to 180,” the insider explained.
So they’re removing all the turboprops. “But where do you take them now?” he said.
Thus, the airlines are looking for an airport to park their small aircraft, either Clark or Cebu.
“Cebu is quite far, though. But actually, Cebu is better because it has an international airport,” according to the source.
By March, the airport habitué said fares will be more expensive since the turboprops are being removed. “It’s basic supply and demand: if you limit capacity, prices go up.”
For vacationers to get to Siargao next year, they will have to fly from Manila to Cebu, then from Cebu to Siargao. Still, it’s easier than going through Clark. One airline said it is timing its connecting flights so they won’t be inconvenient.
Catch ‘em all
Apparently missed in the list of floodgate suspects was a member of the House of Representatives who, in his top-shelf greed, was able to corner projects as a proponent and as a contractor.
His company, Nosy Tarsee learned, obtained total contracts amounting to P2.3 billion from 2022 to 2025.
Aside from road works, the contracts included flood control projects, school buildings and health centers across different districts in Tarlac.