Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1

B-1836, the China Airlines Boeing 767 that carried Benigno Aquino Jr. from Taipei to Manila, seen taxiing at Hong Kong's former airport, the now-defunct Kai Tak Airport.

China Airlines Flight 811 was a regularly scheduled flight from Taipei to Manila. On August 21, 1983, the flight utilized a Boeing 767-200 with the registration B-1836. On board this flight was Filipino politician Benigno S. Aquino, Jr., known by the nickname, Ninoy, who used a forged passport with the name "Marcial Bonifacio" for the final leg of his trip to the Philippines to avoid identification. Upon landing in Manila, the aircraft docked at Gate 8 (present-day Gate 11). Aviation Security Command (AVSECOM) personnel escorted Aquino out of the plane to the tarmac where a van owned by the agency awaited him. A single gunshot was heard, which was then identified as the shot that killed Aquino. Several shots burst out, killing the alleged assassin, Rolando Galman. Seconds later, a barrage of gunfire erupted, causing chaos in the plane, the tarmac, and the terminal. The bodies of Aquino and Galman lay on the tarmac; Aquino's body was loaded onto the van, which then sped away.

Ironically, Flight 811 was the same flight number that had been involved in an accident in 1980 at the same airport, albeit with a different aircraft used (a Boeing 707). Four years after Aquino's assassination in 1983, the airport was given its present name by virtue of Republic Act No. 6639.

Presently, a body mark of Aquino's assassination is on display at the departure parking lot. The spot at Gate 8 where he was killed has a memorial plaque.

An EVA Air Boeing 747-400 parked at the historic Gate 11, then Gate 8 during the assassination. The plaque marking Ninoy's assassination is visible on the left.

In 1989, a Master Plan Review recommended the construction of two new terminals (NAIA 2 and NAIA 3), as well as many other facility improvements.[6]

In 1991, the terminal reached capacity when it registered a total passenger volume of 4.53 million. Since 1991, the terminal has been over capacity and has been recording an annual average growth rate of 11%,[6] but improvements to the airport increased its capacity to 6 million passengers yearly.[2]

The terminal currently serves foreign carriers operating in Manila, except for All Nippon Airways, Cathay Pacific, Delta Air Lines, Emirates, KLM, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, Turkish Airlines, and United Airlines, which uses Terminal 3. It also serves Philippine Airlines flights to and from Toronto, Vancouver, New York, Auckland, Phnom Penh, Hanoi and the Middle East, except Dubai flights.[7][8]

Compared to international terminals in other Asian countries, NAIA 1 has been consistently ranked at the bottom due to limited and outdated facilities, poor passenger comfort, and crowding due to operating above designed capacity.[9] From 2011 to 2013, NAIA 1 was ranked first on the lists of Asia's worst and the world's worst airports by the travel website "The Guide to Sleeping In Airports".[10]

Transport authorities planned to give NAIA 1 a makeover; the plans were approved by President Benigno Aquino III. The makeover and upgrade includes the expansion of the arrival area, the addition of parking spaces, and the improvement of other terminal facilities.[11] The Transportation and Communications Department previously announced that as soon as Terminal 3 becomes fully operational, NAIA 1 was eyed by Cebu Pacific with the intention rehabilitating the terminal into an "Airport City" and serve as an exclusive terminal for their aircraft.[12]

On January 23, 2014, NAIA 1 started the process of upgrading and modernizing the 32-year-old passenger terminal building, planned to be finalized and operational by May 2015.[13][14] The renovation project was divided into six phases and had 40 percent completion on December 16, 2014.[15] The project included the installation of buckling restrained braces to strengthen the structural integrity of the building, as well as a facelift in the interior design of the terminal.[16] From August 1 to October 1, 2014, five international airlines—Delta Air Lines, KLM, Emirates, Singapore Airlines, and Cathay Pacific—were transferred to Terminal 3 in an effort to decrease the congestion of the terminal.[17] On October 28, 2018, United Airlines and Qantas were also relocated to Terminal 3.[18] Qatar Airways was also relocated to Terminal 3 on December 1, 2018, while Turkish Airlines was transferred to Terminal 3 on January 1, 2019.[19]

NAIA 1 is the terminal of foreign airlines including Philippine Airlines, China Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Vietnam Airlines, Japan Airlines, Korean Air, Royal Brunei Airlines, Saudia, and Etihad Airways.[3][4] It is also the terminal of Philippine Airlines for international flights: the ASEAN (Phnom Penh and Hanoi), New Zealand (Auckland), the USA (New York City and Seattle), Canada (Toronto and Vancouver), and the Middle East (Dammam, Doha, and Riyadh).