I.

Introduction

The development of the Manila International Airport was spearheaded by

President Ferdinand E. Marcos, through the circulation of Executive Order No. 381,
which authorized the airport’s development. In 1973, a feasibility study/airport
masterplan was done by Airways Engineering Corporation through a US$29.6 million
loan from the Asian Development Bank. The Detailed Engineering Design of the New
Manila International Airport Development Project was done by Reardetsauti/ trans
plan/F.F Cruz Consultant while the terminal’s Detailed Architectural Design was
prepared by Leonardo and Associates.

Actual work on the terminal began during the second quarter of 1978. It was
completed in 1981 and had a size of 67,000 square meters with a design capacity of 4.5
million passengers per year. In 1989, a masterplan review recommended the
construction of the two terminals (NAIA 2 and NAIA 3), as well as many other facility
improvements.

The terminal reached capacity in 1991, when it registered a total passenger volume of
4.53 million. Since 1991, the terminal has been over capacity and has been recording
an annual average growth rate off 11%. Terminal 1 has consistently ranked at the
bottom due to limited and outdated facilities, poor passenger comfort, and crowding.
The terminal has been operation above designed capacity and decades this time.

According to CNN Travel, “The Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay City,
Philippines bring the term “stuck in the 1970’s to a new level” and evaluated to be
lacking in some of the qualification in compliance to the international standards that
have an advantage and excellent design for aircraft and flight business.

An airport is like a community devoted to dynamic movement. It comprises various

structures that facilitate passenger and cargo movement, maintenance, aircraft control,
and other structures that provide auxiliary support functions. The very nature of an
airport’s complexity makes it necessary to isolate its segments for design purpose. It is
therefore the intent of this juncture to isolate primarily the passenger functions and to
discuss how they tend to operate at an airport and what their general relationships to a
community area.
 II. Significance

Through this study, the author aims to:

 Produce a case study for use in classroom instruction for transportation

management;
 Provide statistical data which may be useful for private businesses in the
transport sector; and
 Make initial recommendations to the Philippine government with regards to
airport accessibility based on the needs and preferences of some sample air
travelers, and possibly open up topics for further research.

III. Review of Related Literature

Singapore’s Changi Airport is one of the most accessible airports in the world. It can be
reached using various modes of transportation: car rental, metered taxi, coach, public
bus, airport shuttle (vans that work like Manila’s FX), and train (MRT). The airport also
offers free shuttle service to/from Ang Mo Kio District and Sengkang MRT stations, as
well as parking lots for those who wish to use their own car. From the airport, a traveler
could reach the city center in a few minutes. Even transit passengers may opt to go
around while waiting for the next flight. Moreover, the airport’s website provides all this
information, with a user-friendly interface. (www.changiairport.com, retrieved April 3,
2011)

In 2005, Banister (2005) likewise forecasted that key centers in Europe would have high
speed rail network linked to major roads and international airports, particularly at
interchange between road and rail and between road, rail and air. Global airlines’ hub
operations linked to good quality transport must be available to support the local and
national centers’ population and activity.

How does one get to and from the Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA)?
The airport complex is situated close to the main Commercial Business Districts of
Manila. Metered taxi, hotel drivers, and car rental services are available. By public
transport, passengers taking the train (MRT, LRT) may disembark at the EDSA-Taft
station, where an airport shuttle terminal

is located (at the back of McDonalds). Those travelling by city bus routes may take a
bus plying the EDSA-MIA route (MIA stands for Manila International Airport). These
buses will pass Terminals 1 and 2, while a jeepney route can take passengers to
Terminal 3. There is also an airport shuttle service to move passengers to the different
airport terminals. (www.miaa.gov.ph, retrieved April 3, 2011)

Although the description of NAIA’s accessibility sounds pretty much like Singapore’s,
the two greatly differ in reality. This is because transfers in Singapore are much more
convenient and fast. Improving Changi Airport’s accessibility, along with the progress of
Singapore as a nation, happened in less than half a century and despite NAIA being
several years older than Changi Airport.

NAIA was originally a US Air Force Base before it was turned over to the Philippine
Government in 1948. At the time it was constructed, Pasay and Parañaque were part of
the province of Rizal, and the airport was clearly in residential suburbs with a very large
capacity for air-traffic for its time. The original Manila International Airport terminal stood
where Terminal 2 stands now. However, it was gutted by fire in the late 60s. President
Ferdinand Marcos ordered the construction of what is now NAIA Terminal 1. By this
time residential areas have already started sprouting around the sprawling airport,
preventing it to add any more runways. Another factor is the airport's space-consuming
V-shaped runway configuration, which would have been optimal for military bases but
not for civilian operations.

The capacity problems plaguing NAIA now is no different from that which plagued Kai
Tak International Airport in Hong Kong, which led to the construction of Chek Lap Kok
100km away. The distance between NAIA and Diosdado Macapagal International
Airport (DMIA) in Clark, Pampanga and that between Kai Tak and Chek Lap Kok are
very similar. The advantage of Chek Lap Kok is that it has a high-speed railway line to
Victoria Harbor.

As modes of transportation, particularly air transportation, have much impact on a

country’s economy, careful planning is therefore necessary. However, Page (1994)
noted that much of the existing knowledge available on transportation’s supply chain
issues has been generated only through interviews with managers in each sector of the
transport industry and their commercial practices (i.e. contracting arrangements, profit
margins and global strategies). It is rare to find researches being given access to
commercial information on supply (and demand) issues, owing to the confidential and
sensitive nature of the data and the perceived threat it may pose to their competitive
advantage if rival operators obtained such information. Thus, the relationship between
transport supply and tourist remains poorly understood.

Page (1994) likewise noted that geographers have typically analyzed travel as a
response to satisfy human desire for movement and the spatial outcome of such
journeys. Geographers have

also considered the spatial variables in the transport system (locations and place) and
how these affect the costs and production of other social and economic activities. For
the geographer, transport facilitates the process of movement which has economic and
budgetary cost while behavioral factors (i.e. perception and preferences for particular
forms of transport) determine the journey in terms of the available infrastructure and
routes. In analyzing the transport system, they have considered: (1) the linkage and
flows within a transport system, (2) the location and places connected by these linkages
(center and nodes, or hub and), and (3) the system catchments and relationships
between places within the network.

Lumsdon (2004) described taxi, urban bus and metro train as utilitarian transport modes
while scenic walks, cycling lanes, and novelty rides like balloons and horse-drawn
carriage are at the other end of the continuum dubbed as ‘transport for tourism’.

One of the most cited works in tourism is Leiper’s systems model for tourism, which
divided tourism space into (1) tourist-generating region, (2) transit region, and (2)
destination. Among the three, most research and discussions focus on destinations
(Mason 2008) followed by transit regions as secondary destinations (Beeton 2006);
while transit is the least studied area. J.J.J. Pigram and John Michael Jenkins (2006)
viewed Leiper’s model as that giving more emphasis on the destination rather than the
tourist generating region because it is actually difficult to identify tourists from the
general populace; it is noteworthy however that Pigram and Jenkins (p.318) made
reference to the origin and destination but not to the transit route.

Development has become a complex business. It is no longer possible simply to build a

bridge or a power plant. There are also social and environmental concerns to consider.
(Kelles-Viitanen, 1997)

Related to the social context is the Filipino practice of using Balikbayan box. Balikbayan
literally means returning to one’s hometown. Balikbayan box is a ubiquitous corrugated
box containing any number of small items and sent by a Filipino who lives abroad to
relatives in the Philippines. The box either ‘goes home’ on its own (i.e. shipped) or
accompanied by the Filipino returning to the Philippines by air, as part of the checked in
luggage. An article on The Washington Post published on December 24, 2004 captures
the story behind balikbayan boxes particularly from the Filipino immigrants in the US. A
reason behind the balikbayan box may be the race’s gift-giving culture, and another
reason could be economic, as it is cheaper to send small presents for everybody by
one-time shipment. The contents of the box need not be special—most of them are
actually available in the Philippines; they range from food and household consumables
to clothes and electronics. Yet things inside a balikbayan box bring joy to recipients,
especially at Christmas. Ly (2004) calls it “care package”; it is the thought—the care—
that counts.

An undergraduate study at the Lyceum of the Philippines University Manila (de los
Reyes 2010) further revealed that although price is still a consideration, Filipinos prefer
modes of transportation that are comfortable, and those that would require less
transfers and less walks between transfers.
IV. Goals and Objectives

Goal #1 Develop the airports physical facilities to meet the future needs of the
community.

Objectives:
 To provide runway length to meet the year-round needs of the airport’s
critical aircraft.
 To provide opportunities for the development of business, corporate,
limited commuter, charter and private general aviation activity
 To provide other facilities needed to support a full range of aviation
services and a high level of service to the public.

Goal #2 Provide an airport that is safe and reliable.

Objectives:
 To provide navigational, landing aids and meteorological facilities that enhance
the safety and reliability of airport operations.
 To ensure that terminal, parking and support facilities meet all applicable safety
standards.

Goal #3 Develop the airport to minimize and reduce environmental effects, and
address environmental feasibility and compatibility in plan development.

Objectives:
 To minimize potential environmental impacts.
 To provide easy air and ground access, plan an energy efficient airport layout.

Goal #4 Develop the airport in a manner that is flexible and adaptable to changing
conditions in the aviation technology.

Objectives:
 Consider the acquisition of additional land to provide ultimate capabilities for the
airport to satisfy potential demand under all growth strategies.

Goal #5 Develop an airport that supports local and regional economic goals and
plans while providing the flexibility to accommodate new opportunities and shift
development patterns.
 Objectives:
 To achieve a level of service and airport user convenience such that the airport is
a positive factor in regional economic development decisions.
 To provide for appropriate and achievable opportunities near the airport.
 To establish an efficient airport layout integrated with the existing transportation
infrastructure which will encourage continued economic development and
change consistent with local and regional growth plans.

Goal #6 Develop an airport that is consistent with federal, state, regional, and local
plans.

Objectives:
 To provide sufficient area and land use directions to promote the growth of both
airports related and other industrial related employment, both on and off the
airport.
 Develop the airport area as the center of economic growth.

V. Conceptual Framework

Table 1: Conceptual Framework

Input Process Output
Variable 1: Luggage Description and analysis Recommendations on how
- Maximum allowed of passenger needs and to improve airport access
- Actual quantity preferences based on the
Variable 2: Airport Access two variables
- Available modes
- Actual usage Note

Working Definition of Terms

Accessibility is a general term used to describe the degree to which a product/service is

available (reachable) to as many people as possible; airport accessibility therefore
refers to the availability of ways to travel to, from and within the airport, regardless of the
profile of traveler Air traveler – travel is movement from origin to destination; an air
traveler refers to people who move from origin to destination on board an aircraft

Baggage/Luggage – these words may be used interchangeably in the text to refer to

relatively big and bulky containment of items which air travelers bring with them, either
checked in and placed in the aircraft’s cargo compartment or personally carried by the
traveler into the passenger cabin (see Balikbayan Box in the review of related literature)
CAAP or the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (formerly Air Transportation
Office, renamed CAAP in March 2008) is a government agency in charge of
management and operations of all national airports in the Philippines
(www.caap.gov.ph, retrieved April 3, 2011)

Meet & Greet Arrangement – Webster defines ‘meet and greet’ as a reception at which
a public figure (as a politician or rock star) socializes with press members and other
guests; in the hospitality industry, airport meet and greet is a special service wherein
passengers are met by a designated staff at the airport and assisted to either a coach,
car rental, shuttle service or transferring them from one terminal to another for a
connecting flight (airportmeetandgreet.co.za, retrieved April 3,2011)

Taxicab (Taxi, Cab) is a vehicle for hire with a driver, used to move passengers
between locations of the latter’s choice, unlike in using public transportation when pick-
up and drop-off locations are determined by the service provider. Most taxis are
metered while rented cars are charged for the first 10 hours, usually with unlimited stops
within the agreed area. Owing to the privacy or exclusiveness of service, Private Vehicle
is used in this study to refer to taxis, rented cars and cars owned by the air
traveler/passenger and/or his/her family/friends, unless otherwise specified.

VI. Research Methodology

This study is designed using the descriptive method and qualitative analysis.

Research Instruments

Primary sources of data – This study utilized survey questionnaire as the primary
research instrument; results were validated through interviews of key
informants representing various stakeholders.

Secondary sources of data – This study made use of relevant statistics and studies from
concerned government agencies, associations, mass media, as well as academic and
infrastructure funding institutions.

Population and Sampling

In 2010, NAIA received 27,119,899 passengers. Due to the limitation of time and
resources, only a sample size of 100 was targeted. Respondents were randomly
selected at the arrival area of NAIA Terminals 1, 2 and 3, on varying days of the week
and at varying daytime hours. However, respondent selection was not strictly random,
but rather inclined to convenience sampling, although effort was exerted to cover as
many flights as possible.
Pre-test and Survey Proper

The questionnaire was tested on February 26, 2011, and the survey proper was
conducted on March 5-26, after adjustments were made on the questionnaire based on
the pre-test.

Analysis

One hundred two responses were considered valid. The data gathered were recorded,
tallied and analyzed using descriptive method and basic statistical operations such as
percentage, mean and mode. While mean refers to the average, mode refers to the
value that occurs most frequently in a given data set. Results were then validated
through interviews with key informants representing various stakeholders, such as
passengers, relatives and friends of passengers who pick them up at the airport, drivers
of airport taxis, car companies, airport officials, and transportation experts/scholars.

Far Eastern University

 Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts

RESEARCH METHOD IN ARCHITECTURE

PROPOSED REDEVELOPMENT OF NINOY

AQUINO INTERNATIONAL
AIRPORT

Chapter 1

SUBMITTED BY:

MARANAN, YLAIZA KEITH C.