This Airport Guide covers the airside zone – the restricted, passengers-only area after outbound immigration – at Ninoy Aquino International Airport’s Terminal 1.

Post last updated from first-hand experience : 10 November 2023 (based on a 09 November 2023 departure)
Post last updated using other information : 02 March 2024

NOTE: This Airport Guide should only be used for general guidance. The facilities and procedures discussed here are subject to change without prior notice.

In this post, we’ll explore the airside (restricted) area at Terminal 1 (T1) of Ninoy Aquino International Airport (common abbreviation: “NAIA” / IATA code: MNL) – the main airport serving Greater Manila in the Philippines. For our purposes, “airside” includes border control and all passengers-only sections beyond, up to the boarding gates.

To learn more about Terminal 1’s landside area, read my separate report documenting what you can expect to see before immigration and security.

If you’re interested in Terminal 1 arrivals, click on this link to read my guide describing what arriving travellers will encounter at the airport.

For a broader overview of Terminal 1, click here.

To learn more about the airport as a whole, click here.

CONTENTS

• Immigration and Security
• General Layout
• Shopping and Dining
• Lounges
• Boarding Gates
• Pandemic-Related Measures

IMMIGRATION AND SECURITY

After completing all check-in formalities, you can proceed to outbound immigration.

Take the door on the left if you have a Philippine passport, or the one on the right if you hold a foreign passport. Guards posted at either entrance will inspect your passport and boarding pass before allowing you through.

Within the enclosure, you’ll find separate counters for Philippine and foreign passport holders. Unlike at inbound immigration, there are currently no automated e-gates for departing Filipinos: all booths here are manned.

The process generally runs as follows for ordinary holidaymakers.

Part 1 – 72 hours or less before departure:

Register your information on the Philippine government’s Electronic Travel Declaration System (eTravel). Retain a copy of the QR code that will be issued to you for presentation on demand. This replaces the old manual departure cards that were phased out in mid-2023.

Part 2 – At the airport on the day of departure:

1. Complete check-in formalities and proceed to outbound immigration.
2. Join the correct queue. There are separate lanes for Philippine and foreign passport holders.
3. Present your travel documents to the immigration officer. Most people will only need to submit their passport (with appropriate visas) and boarding pass. You may be asked to show your eTravel QR code here, but in practice this doesn’t happen as your pre-registered details are already present in the border agency’s database.
4. Have your picture digitally recorded.
5. Answer questions if asked, which may or may not happen.
6. Receive your duly stamped passport and boarding pass.
7. Proceed to the security checkpoint.

If you’re a Filipino citizen travelling overseas for employment, or a first-time traveller with a hitherto unused passport (which might raise human trafficking concerns), or if other special circumstances exist, more documents may need to be furnished and the interview could take longer. A summary of additional requirements listed by travel purpose – which, I must emphasise, most leisure travellers will NOT be asked to present – can be found here.

After immigration comes security screening. The official website of the Office for Transportation Security sets out detailed guidance on what’s permitted in baggage (checked or carry-on).

One VERY IMPORTANT thing to bear in mind whilst undergoing security inspection: DON’T CRACK ANY JOKES ABOUT CARRYING A BOMB. Even a plainly humorous jest about having explosives on your person or in your luggage might land you in very, VERY deep trouble. The jocular nature of such a remark is no defence, and neither is the absence of an actual bomb upon subsequent inspection. At worst, you’ll face five years in prison and a fine to boot. DON’T DO IT.

GENERAL LAYOUT

Most of T1’s shops and dining facilities are in the building’s mid-section, located immediately after outbound security. In the following satellite view, the mid-section is the rectangular centre block connecting the street-side portion above (which houses the check-in hall) to the two “arms” below (where most of the boarding gates are located).

After undergoing security screening, you can proceed either left or right. Pick whichever passage is closer: there’s no real difference as both will take you into the airside zone.

SHOPPING AND DINING

Mid-section

For this walkthrough, we’ll take the right-hand exit from security.

The first thing you’ll encounter is a succession of duty free shops. Practically all of T1’s stores have now reopened in the wake of the post-pandemic travel boom.

Further on is a waiting area. Here you’ll find stores selling food and travel necessities, a bureau de change, and a souvenir shop where you can pick up themed shirts and other trinkets.

There are two cafés and a sandwich shop at the end of the terminal’s mid-section. These are fitted with their own dining areas.

Heading back down towards security, you’ll encounter a second waiting area (mirroring the one on the other side). Amenities include snack shops and bureaux de change.

The rest of the passage leads through the duty free retail zone and back down to the security screening checkpoint.

Departures concourses

The two concourses at the end of T1’s “arms” offer a limited range of shopping and dining options. For example, the west concourse – housing gates 10-14 – is furnished with a café and two souvenir shops.

You’ll also find a WHSmith convenience store about a third of the way down T1’s western arm, and a café-restaurant near Gate 15.

Note: As of November 2023, a promotional sign indicated that another restaurant was due to open shortly in the western arm.

LOUNGES

Most of T1’s lounges are located along the arms leading to the two concourses.

East (towards Gates 2-7)

• “A” Lounge (third-party; near Gate 2)
• PAGSS Premium Lounge (third-party; near Gate 7)

West (towards Gates 9-15/17)

• Marhaba Lounge (third-party; near Gate 9)
• JAL Sakura Lounge (airline-run; near Gate 15)
• PAL Mabuhay Lounge (airline-run; access via lift near WHSmith)

A complimentary lounge for the exclusive use of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) is located one level above departures (take the stairs near Starbucks).

BOARDING GATES

Mid-section (Gates 1 and 16)

The two gates in the mid-section are set on a lower level and can only be accessed directly by stairs. Travellers with special needs are taken to these gates via service lifts located elsewhere.

There are no toilets available within the holding areas of these gates. Passengers in need of washroom facilities must walk back upstairs, and then head down again once they’ve finished.

West departures concourse (Gates 9-15, 17)

With the exception of Gates 1 and 16, T1’s boarding gates are concentrated in the building’s two concourses. Turning right from the mid-section takes us into the western concourse, where Gates 9-15 and 17 are located.

Gates 9 and 15 are located along the length of the arm, accessed via stairs that lead down to isolated holding areas. There are toilets near the top of the stairs but none down at the gates themselves.

Gates 10-14 and 17 are clustered like spokes around a hub-like concourse at the end of the arm. Note that the escalator only goes down, so you’ll need to take the stairs on either side if you wish to go back up. There are toilets available in the middle of the concourse.

East departures concourse (Gates 2-7)

The layout of the eastern arm is very similar to that of the western arm. The two are essentially mirror images of each other (except with different lounges, shops, and snack kiosks).

Gates 2 and 7 are located on a lower level with isolated holding areas, similar to Gates 9 and 15 in the other arm.

At the end of the corridor, stairs and an escalator lead down to a hub that’s virtually identical to its western counterpart.

PANDEMIC-RELATED MEASURES

Not yet ready to pass through immigration and security? CLICK HERE to read my separate Airport Guide documenting MNL T1’s landside zone (i.e., the public area before border control).