Jabarkan Terminal dari Bandar Udara Internasional Ninoy Aquino

The development of the Manila International Airport was finally approved through the promulgation of Executive Order No. 381, which authorized the airport's development. In 1973, a feasibility study/airport master plan was done by Airways Engineering Corporation through a US$29.6 million loan from the Asian Development Bank. The Detailed Engineering Design of the New Manila International Airport Development Project was done by Renardet-Sauti/Transplan/F.F. Cruz Consultant while the terminal's Detailed Architectural Design was prepared by Leandro Locsin's L.V. Locsin and Associates.

In 1974, the detailed designs were adopted by the Philippine Government and was subsequently approved by the Asian Development Bank on September 18, 1975. Actual work on the terminal began during the second quarter of 1978. The terminal was completed in 1981 and had a size of 67,000 square meters with a design capacity of 4.5 million passengers per year. It currently serves all non-Philippine Airlines and non-Cebu Pacific international flights. 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.

The terminal reached capacity in 1991, 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%, but improvements to the airport increased its capacity to 6 million passengers yearly. It has 18 air bridges and services 33 airlines (as of May 2011). Interestingly enough, the building does not have a Gate 8 and a Gate 13. Compared with international terminals in other Asian countries, Terminal 1 has consistently ranked at the bottom due to limited and outdated facilities, poor passenger comfort, and crowding (the Terminal has been operating above designed capacity for decades now). In this regard, transport authorities plan to give Terminal 1 a makeover; the plans were approved by President Benigno Aquino III. The makeover and upgrade includes the expansion of the arrival area, addition of parking spaces, and improvement of other terminal facilities.

The Transportation and Communications Department previously announced that as soon as Terminal 3 becomes fully operational, Terminal 1 would be rehabilitated into an "Airport City", with the intention of Cebu Pacific Air to convert Terminal 1 into an exclusive terminal for their aircraft. This terminal handles all international flights except those operated by Cebu Pacific, Philippine Airlines, PAL Express, Zest Airways, and All Nippon Airways.

The rehabilitation of Terminal 1 will be completed by November 2014.