MIAA: NAIA Not Capable of Handling the Airbus A380

Prior to the expansion of the air services agreement between the United Arab Emirates and the Philippines, it was suggested that Emirates consider operating A380 flights to Manila as a means to expand capacity. However, the Manila International Airport Authority stated last year that limitations at the country's main international gateway prevent it from adequately servicing the A380 on a regular basis.
emirates philippines
Image Source: Emirates
Emirates flew the Airbus A380, the world's largest passenger aircraft, on a special flight from Dubai to Manila last October 7 to commemorate the carrier's transfer from Terminal 1 to Terminal 3. However, many viewed the flight as a test to determine if the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila could adequately service the aircraft. Emirates knew that it had to explore alternative measures for expanding service in Manila with the foreseen loss of their third daily flight due to bilateral limitations.
While the Manila Airport adequately serviced the aircraft on this special flight, the Manila International Airport Authority later admitted that the limited capacity of the airport would pose a challenge to hosting regularly scheduled A380 flights as the aircraft would "cause a lot of inconvenience and delay for other scheduled flights."
According to NAIA General Manager Angel Honrado, the large size of the wide-bodied aircraft meant that the A380 could only be on the runway, while a smaller aircraft is on the taxiway due to its massive wingspan. 
Although an effort was made to study the possibility of allowing an A380 to operate alongside an A320 on the runway or taxiway, it was determined impossible due to the limited clearance. "It could not be done because the clearance between the center line of the runway and taxiway does not conform to the safety requirement of wing-tip-to-wing-tip clearance," said Honrado.
Currently, Clark International Airport in Pampanga is the only airport in the Philippines that is capable of adequately handling the Airbus A380. Unfortunately, there is insufficient traffic at Clark to fill the massive passenger capacity of the double-deck A380. Emirates even had difficulty filling the smaller Boeing 777 aircraft, when it recently attempted non-stop flights between Clark and Dubai.
Although the latest expansion of the UAE-Philippines air agreement requires the UAE carrier that accepts the additional flight entitlements to operate service to Clark or Cebu within one year of signing the memorandum of agreement, it is most likely that the next attempt at flights outside of Manila will be in Cebu, which is better connected as a regional hub, given the poor performance at Clark.
The last time an A380 landed at Clark International Airport was in 2007 when Airbus Industries brought the aircraft to the Philippines to prove its ability to operate in the country.

28 comments:

  1. Not really true. I have seen 4 A380s parked at the same time in Tom Bradley International Los Angeles and the slots they occupied were ex-747s formerly operated by those 4 aircrafts. I will not tell the airlines but they are from Asia, Europe and Australia. I've also used Manila Airports and the runway plus the taxiway are almost bigger than that of LAX. Something is fishy here. I do not favor Emirates but in fairness, it has the aircrafts and other resources to make business in the Manila and to hear this alibi from Manila Airport Authority is totally insane and unacceptable. I am a Filipino for your information.

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  2. Let me gues Mr. Anonymous, the following airlines are: Korean, Songspore, Quantas, and British Airways. Am I correct?

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  4. It's sickening and old news! Solution? Start building the new airport! Wala nga iba!!

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    1. Bakit puro gastos ang solusyon niyo e wala na ngang pera and Pilipinas? Hindi bagong airport ang kailangan ng A380 kundi hagdan lang para makaakyat at makababa ang mga pasahero! Kaya nila sa India, bakit pa kaya sa Pinas ay hindi kaya? Huwag magpa-class kung walang ibubuga! LOL.

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    2. Inuuna kasi ang pulitika bago ang pangangailangan ng bansang Pilipinas. Naaaksaya ang pera ng Pilipinas gawa ng pamumulitika.

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    3. kse sa pamumulitika nagkakaron ng malaking pera..haha

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  5. I would say it's not a goal but a cinderella dream. Sorry, u have to wait for the next president to build a new airport because the naia name is preserved as the old ninoy died there. Lol. If the new airport is built at the new location it doesnt make any sense to name it the same. So by the time the new philippine capital airport is built, a380 and even the new 747-8 would both be obsolete. Lol. Attention may go more on the new boeing 797. Lol. Hahaha...

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  6. Judging by the lack of orders for the A380 I would say its almost obsolete now

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    1. Are you sure? Airbus Industries has 167 A380s on order and not even half has been delivered because it is a sophisticated aircraft to build. Tell PAL to buy one which is worth 430 million U.S. dollars! I am dreaming of PALs MNL/LAX on A380..................

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  7. The obvious replacement for NAIA is Clark, its runway can handle A380s and all that is required is passenger terminal facilities. It is about the same distance from Manila as KLIA is from Kuala Lumpur which is served by high-speed train, the journey taking around 35 minutes

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    1. Clark cannot be a replacement for NAIA due to stupid plan. New and much bigger terminal building will be construct in that airport just for low cost carriers only. Then full time carriers which includes Philippine Airlines and foreign full time carriers will be using the existing passenger terminal which is much smaller than NAIA terminal 1 (including the expansion) which might cause congestion. NAIA has 30 full carrier airlines (6 from terminal 3, 1 from terminal 2, Philippine Airlines, both international and domestic; and 23 from terminal 1). NAIA terminal 1 has 205,500 square metres and can handle 28 million passengers. While Clark International Airport's existing terminal can only handle 5 million passengers.

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  8. definitely not true, if you will measure the wing span of A380 it's about 262ft while A330 & B777 at around 208 to 214ft. If you will divide the wing span of A380, it will be 131ft and B777 wing span to 107ft considering the distance of taxi and runway is 500ft ( measured from the center of run way & center of taxi way (, there are still 220ft gap / clearance from wing tip to wing tip ), I don't know what is there basis of saying it's not possible of regular service of A380 in MIAA, maybe for the sky bridge I would say, but not the one they mentioned that if A380 will have regular service, others may have stopped in the terminal or taxi way because of the massive size or wing span problem of A380 and may cause delay of the scheduled flight. just my observation.

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    1. In short, where you find a B747 parked, you can also use A380. Airbus would be crazy to manufacture an aircraft that becomes a problem with airports, taxiways, tarmacs and gates!

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  9. I dont think it is just the size of the a380 for parking, taxi, takeoff and landing. A380 is designed for category 10 airport, which naia do not qualify. It s because of the extensive firefighting requirement and recommended for a380 airplanes. That is the safety requirement they maybe talking about. Please read about the cat 10 airport reqirement for a380.

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  10. Worth noting that aside from the one-off Emirates flight there have been other A380 operations at MNL. I believe the Lufthansa Technik facility here has handled A380s from Qantas and Air France.

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    1. True, LTP handles maintenance for Qantas' A380s. They're a fairly regular sight. In fact, earlier last month while traversing SLEX I could see the tail of a Qantas A380 just outside the hangar from afar. In fact, that's why LTP is renovating their facilities: it's so that they can handle more aircraft.

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  11. I would suggest the problem with operating A380s though NAIA lays with the positioning of the boarding gates. When an A380 is at a gate because of its wingspan it may be impossible to park a large aircraft such as B747, B777, A340 and A330 an adjoining gates.

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    1. Agreed, NAIA can't even form proper lines for immigration or security. They can't even make proper "Male" "Female" signs for security. How in the world can they possibly handle an A380 full of passenger.

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    2. A journey to a thousand miles begins with a single step. If not now when? If not NAIA Where? If Not the Airport Management Who?

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  12. Plain Protectionism, sure and simple! Pity those who fly A380s to Manila.. What a shame!

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    1. That's one of the Catholic 7 deadly sins called: Envy or masamang inggit in tagalog vernacular!

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  13. Mahiya tayo sa Singapore, Malaysia, at Thailand na may Airbus A380 operations ng Emirates. Tayo'y wala. Anong nangyare na sa planong pagpapatayo ng bagong airport sa Sangley Point?

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  14. Based on my calculations made on Google Map, Mactan Cebu International Airport can handle Airbus A380. Airbus A380 can land or takeoff on its runway even if there is other Airbus A380 taxiing on its taxiway.

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