Transport in Philippines

Getting there

By air: Virtually all flights going to the Philippines from international destinations go to Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila on Luzon. There are other international airports in Cebu City on Ceby, Davao City on Mindanao and Laoag on Luzon.

By sea: There are connections by sea with both Indonesia and Malaysia, although they aren’t widely used by travellers.


Getting around

By air: The Philippines’ major airline has 43 domestic routes all over the islands but other airlines also have flights on different routes.

By train: There is only one line in operation on all the islands on Luzon but can be very unreliable and even dangerous as typhoons have done damage to bridges in the past.

By bus: For long distance journeys buses are far more reliable and safer. As so many people rely on buses for travelling around, there are loads of services

By sea: Considering there are over 7,000 islands in the Philippines, there are many ferry and boat services connecting the different islands. Most routes, such as the one between Manila Bay and Cebu City are safe although other routes may not be so straight forward.

By jeepney: These are old US Army jeeps with two planks of wood acting as benches in the back and uses as modes of transport in local Filipino towns and is unique to the country.