NAIA Terminal 5 to be built as Philippine Village Hotel sees demolition
After more than two decades, the abandoned Philippine Village Hotel next to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport will be torn down to make way for a new airport passenger terminal.
In a press conference held by the Department of Transportation, New NAIA Infra Corp. General Manager Lito Alvarez said that they have secured the necessary permits to demolish the defunct hotel by April 21.
"Right after Holy Week, ide-demolish na 'yan. Gagawa tayo ng panibagong terminal, yan ang Terminal 5," he said. "So siguro in two to three years' time, that will be finished and expect a lot of improvements na mangyayari pa."
The Philippine Village Hotel ceased operations in May 2001.
The NAIA Terminal 5 is touted to help decongest the airport as its ideal capacity is about 32 to 34 million passengers yearly.
"In 2024, we carried about 51 million passengers, and this year, ang target natin is about 54 million, so you can just imagine the congestion dito sa ating mga terminals," Alvarez said.
He also noted that NAIA Terminal 4, the oldest among all the airport's terminals, will no longer be renovated after it was closed down last year.
"Nakita natin na ‘yan ay isang malaking hazard, obstacle ‘yan," Alvarez said, sharing his fears that a tragedy may happen similar to that of the Jeju Air crash from last year that killed 179 passengers.
"Ayaw nating mangyari sa ating bansa ‘yun kaya’t dinemolish na lang natin 'yun at hindi na natin papatayuan ng additional structure," he reasoned. "Instead, itatayo natin ang replacement ng Terminal 4 doon sa dating international cargo terminal... Inaasahan namin na doon namin mailalagay ang AirAsia domestic flights plus ibang flights ng Cebu Pacific."
The conversion of the terminal will take about six months.
NNIC took over the airport’s operations in September last year and has since been bringing several changes to enhance the passenger experience at NAIA.
