AirAsia Philippines said Monday passenger volume jumped 233 percent in the first quarter from a year ago despite the presence of Omicron variant cases in the country.
The Philippine unit of Malaysia’s AirAsia said it flew 560,849 passengers from January to March, up from 168,527 passengers it served in the same period in 2021.
The load factor also reached its highest quarterly performance outcome in 2021 at 85 percent, jumping by 21 percentage points year-on-year.
AirAsia Philippines said it continued to record the highest quarterly load factor at 86 percent, which rose by 12 percentage points year-on-year, uninterrupted by the steep rise of Omicron variant cases in the Philippines during the quarter.
Similarly, ASK (available seat kilometers) and the number of flights flown rocketed 203 percent and 186 percent year-on-year, with the support of the huge summer demand following the government’s confirmation of further relaxed travel protocols.
AirAsia Philippines increased its flight frequencies by 28 percent during the summer travel season.
“While we are all looking forward to enjoying the various destinations in the country with affordable flights, AirAsia will never stop reminding our guests to observe established health and safety protocols as prescribed by the IAT,” said AirAsia Philippines spokesperson Steve Dailisan.
“We join the government in its call for every Filipino to take booster shots against COVID-19 whenever possible so that we all get to travel safely and hassle-free,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Department of Tourism said it expects a boost in tourist arrivals for the rest of the year as Clark International Airport opened its new passenger terminal Monday.
Clark International Airport’s new world-class passenger terminal building will serve both domestic and international flights.
Two of South Korea’s largest low-cost airlines were among the new air carriers added to the list of airlines that would be operating direct flights from Clark.
The popular Jeju Air will launch its Incheon-CRK-Incheon route every Thursday and Sunday, while Jin Air will offer the same route every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday starting May 16.
Other foreign flights that will establish base operations in the new passenger terminal include destinations to and from Singapore via Jetstar and Scoot; Doha via Qatar Airways; Air Asia; and Dubai via Emirates.
Local air carriers Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines will also have flights operating at the new passenger terminal.
