Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 6) — The number of flights at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) exceeded pre-pandemic levels at nearly 280,000 last year, an all-time high in its history, the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) said Saturday.

According to MIAA, there were 279,953 flights in 2023, including 171,605 domestic and 108,348 international flights.

“This represents a 26% increase compared to the 221,595 flights in 2022 and a 3% increase from the 271,535 registered in 2019,” the agency said.

As for passenger volume, NAIA handled 45,385,987 passengers in 2023, including 24,887,157 domestic and 20,498,830 international travelers.

“This amounts to 47% more than the 30,943,105 passengers from the previous year and accounts for 95% of the 47,693,203 passengers in total for 2019,” MIAA said.

MIAA, which manages the country’s main gateway, said December 2023 had the most flights with 25,779, while July had the most passengers with 4,185,555.

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MIAA General Manager Eric Jose Ines said opening up domestic borders after stringent COVID-19 restrictions boosted domestic tourism, while in the global scale, “international travel is rebounding.”

“Further improvements in facilities, infrastructure, equipment, runways, and terminals are expected to accommodate the increasing number of passengers and flights in the coming years, eventually handling up to 62 million passengers per year, with the NAIA Public Private Partnership (PPP) Project currently under bidding,” Ines added.