A peek at NAIA T3’s swanky First Meridian — and the coming lounge shake-up

PREMIUM. Main seating area for the First Meridian Lounge in NAIA Terminal 3.

Lance Spencer Yu/Rappler

First Meridian has a wine cellar, a golf simulator, and a buffet stacked with shrimp laksa, Japanese beef curry, and burnt cheesecake. PAGSS, meanwhile, has a looking deadline.

AT A GLANCE

• First Meridian is a new premium lounge at NAIA Terminal 3, offering extensive amenities such as a golf simulator, private dining rooms, and a variety of food options, including a buffet and a wine cellar.
• The lounge serves eligible passengers from multiple international airlines and is part of a shift towards larger, shared lounges in Terminal 3, as several smaller airline-operated lounges are closing.
• First Meridian is operated by Prestige Airport Lounge Corp., a subsidiary of San Miguel Holdings Corp., and is part of a broader transformation of NAIA under New NAIA Infra Corp.

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Golf before a flight? Buffet with a glass of wine? Teppanyaki? A nap?

If you’re a business class flyer in NAIA Terminal 3, you just might have those options at First Meridian.

The sprawling new premium lounge tucked above Terminal 3’s international departure area is a striking new addition to the airport under New NAIA Infra Corp. (NNIC). For one thing, First Meridian lounge is massive. At around 2,600 square meters, it’s hard to miss.

That’s significantly bigger than the usual airline and common-use lounges travelers might have seen in the past.

Rappler got a first-hand look at the premium lounge during a tour with NNIC officials and former transportation secretary Jaime Bautista, now an independent director of San Miguel Corporation.

Inside are rows of seating overlooking the airside, quiet zones, showers, private dining rooms, and workspaces. There’s a library and game room, a children’s play area, and infant care room. And — because apparently waiting for a flight is also enough time to work on your swing — there’s even a golf simulator.

They didn’t skimp on the food either. When Rappler visited the lounge, there were generous servings of Japanese beef curry, chicken Emmental pie, spaghetti, and bowls of rich, steamy shrimp laksa. Those with a sweet tooth can indulge in honey ice cream and burnt cheesecake.

Apart from a buffet, passengers can find a bakery, teppanyaki station, a full-service bar, and yes, even a wine cellar.

The idea behind this is closer to the large shared lounges found at other main Asian airports. Instead of each airline maintaining its own relatively small space that may fill up only around certain flights, several carriers send their premium passengers to one large facility.

By early June, First Meridian was already serving eligible passengers from at least seven international carriers — Thai Airways, Emirates, Japan Airlines, Vietnam Airlines, Cathay Pacific, KLM, and Qatar Airways. Singapore Airlines has also begun sending eligible passengers there after closing its own Terminal 3 lounge on June 15, while ANA also now lists First Meridian among its Manila lounge options.

And if you have a long layover, good news: it’s open 24 hours.

Fewer lounges ahead

First Meridian’s arrival is also the start of a shake-up of Terminal 3’s existing lounges.

Terminal 3 has long had a patchwork of airline-operated and third-party lounges, but that lineup is already thinning out. Marhaba’s Terminal 3 lounge closed in May, while A Lounge is scheduled to permanently shut on September 1.

Cathay Pacific was among the first major carriers to make the switch. It permanently shuttered its own Manila lounge effective May 31 and now directs eligible passengers to First Meridian.

PAGSS is the next one to watch.

PAGSS, short for Philippine Airport Ground Support Solutions, operates another lounge inside Terminal 3, just a few steps away from First Meridian. The lounge had initially been expected to close by September 15 as NNIC reorganized T3’s commercial space.

Except now, not so fast.

An NNIC official told Rappler that they’re looking to extend the operation of PAGSS until December 31 while NNIC and the airlines continue evaluating how to transition to common-use lounges.

“When the proper time comes, a decision will have to be made by the airlines,” the official told Rappler.

NNIC’s envisioned end state is a tidier Terminal 3 with just two premium lounges. One would be First Meridian, serving multiple international airlines. The other would be a Philippine Airlines-led facility that would also accommodate carriers from the oneworld alliance.

PAL was formally invited to join oneworld earlier in June, beginning its path to join a global airline group whose roster includes American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, Qantas, and Qatar Airways. 

Who runs First Meridian?

First Meridian itself is not directly operated by NNIC. NNIC describes it as a privately-operated, third-party lounge. Its operator is Prestige Airport Lounge Corp.

Prestige is also connected to the San Miguel group that leads NAIA’s private concessionaire. San Miguel Corporation disclosures identify Prestige Airport Lounge as part of its infrastructure business and, as of June 2025, a wholly-owned subsidiary of San Miguel Holdings Corp.

That makes First Meridian part of the broader commercial transformation taking place since NNIC took control of NAIA in September 2024, as previously underused and boarded-up areas are turned into lounges, restaurants, shops and passenger facilities. – Rappler.com