Arrive by plane - Manila Airport

Getting There

The Philippines has 5 international airports. These are in Manila, Cebu, Davao, Clark, Subic and Laoag. The Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Manila is the premier gateway served by more than 30 airlines that fly to key cities across the globe including Beijing, Shanghai, Xiamen, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Macau and Taipei.

The Mactan International Airport (MIA) in Cebu serves regular flights from Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and Australia, as well chartered flights from Hong Kong, Shanghai, the United States and other major travel capitals. On the other hand, the Davao International Airport handles regular flights from Indonesia and Singapore. In Central Luzon, the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport and the Subic Airfield service both chartered and cargo planes. Laoag International Airport in Ilocos Norte services regular flights from Taiwan. 


Arriving in Manila Airport

The first obstacle will be the lines into the immigration counters.You need to be able to show the immigration officials that you have at least six months remaining in your current passport and an onwards flight, if you do then you will be automatically allowed entry for up to 21 days without a visa. This can be renewed to 59 days and more.
Once you pass through immigration you will come to the baggage carousels.

Baggage Carousels

In the baggage carousel a number of conveyor belts will bring you your luggage. Above each conveyor belt is a flight information board letting you know which conveyor belt your luggage will arrive at.

You will be amazed at the amount of luggage the overseas Filipino workers return home with. Boxes and boxes of all the latest technology from overseas, these Balikbayans, overseas workers, are restricted to how much they are allowed to bring into the country, although looking at them at the baggage carousel you would not think so.

If you have a reasonable amount of baggage yourself you can get a trolley for about 50 pesos. Here is where your patience will be tested. I have had to wait up to 45 minutes for by baggage to make it onto the carousel, I have heard of other who had to wait more than 2 hours! Just be prepared for a long wait with lots of people, all of which are just like you, trying there hardest to get out.

Okay you have now been through immigration, collected a trolley and have also managed to find all your luggage and are now proceeding to Customs and you are still smiling!

Customs

Be prepared to be searched, make sure your luggage is able to be opened up with little fuss. It is here you will need to present your Baggage Declaration Form. If you have items to declare, make sure you do, if you do not and the custom officials find them they will seize the items.

The queues here can be long and challenging, just remember that the customs official does not care what sort of mood you are in or how long your flight was, if you are grumpy they will take more pleasure in holding you up longer if necessary. Just keep smiling! You have just about made it. You now have arrived in the Arrival Lobby.

Arrival Lobby

It is here in the Manila Airport that you can change money if you need to. 
If you have not arranged for your hotel to pick you up and you need to arrange taxi transportation into Manila you can pre-pay inside the arrival lobby then join the queue for an official taxi to take you to your hotel.

No one is allowed to enter the Manila Airport without special permission, so anyone who is waiting for you to arrive will be outside with the masses.

If you are being picked up by friends or your hotel courtesy bus you will have to exit the main terminal and cross the road and go down a small ramp where you will reach the pickup point. Here you will notice a number of signs with letters of the alphabet on them. This will indicate where you should wait for your transportation, travel along the signs until you come to the corresponding first letter of your last or surname. This is where you will be picked up. Across the road is a fence which is where the masses wait for loved ones to return home.

Now that you have arrived in Manila take the opportunity to have a look around.

Getting from the manila airport

Unfortunately, there is no metro/train station at the airport. So you will need to either start off from the airport by public bus, Jeepney, or Taxi. You will have no problem finding a taxi. As soon as you step out of the airport a line up of taxis will be waiting for you. Once you are on the metro getting to the center of town is easy. You just need to get to the metro.

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