Terminal 3

NAIA Terminal 3 is the airport's biggest passenger terminal. It was built to take pressure off Terminals 1 and 2 and give Manila a newer, higher-capacity facility for both domestic and international flights.

Terminal 3 was originally supposed to open in 2002, but the project was marred by a long-running legal dispute between the primary contractor, Philippine International Air Terminals Co. (PIATCO), which also owns ground handler PAGSS, and the Philippine government. The terminal eventually partially opened in 2008, first serving Cebu Pacific domestic flights, and only became fully operational in 2014 after further construction issues and rehabilitation work. Once it fully opened, several foreign airlines moved from Terminal 1 to Terminal 3, which helped ease congestion at the older international terminal.

Today, Terminal 3 is NAIA's main high-capacity terminal. It handles Cebu Pacific's major domestic and international operations, along with many foreign international airlines. Together with Terminal 1, it serves as one of the airport's two main terminals for international processing.