Domestic, international air travel rose in Q1

Philippine air passenger traffic was slightly up in the first quarter of the year on moderate gains for both domestic and international flights, the Civil Aeronautics Board said in a statement over the weekend.

Final figures from the CAB recorded a total of 9.64 million passengers during the January to March period, up 0.9 percent.

Domestic air traffic accounted for 5.13 million passengers of the total air traffic volume, up by 1.5 percent compared to the first quarter of last year. The domestic market continues to be dominated by Cebu Pacific, which carried over half or 2.65 million passengers.

Philippine Airlines and PAL Express carried 1.65 million passengers while AirAsia Zest flew 514,761, CAB said.

CAB also said international traffic was slightly higher despite a preliminary report showing a 7.1-percent decline. It said the final figure included submissions by carriers like Silk Air and Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific, which it said historically accounts for 7 percent of the country’s international market

CAB said international passenger traffic in fact reached 4.50 million in the first quarter of the year, up from the 4.49 million passengers recorded in January to March 2013.

Philippine Airlines remains to be the top choice for international travel, carrying 1.23 million passengers in the first quarter while Cebu Pacific served 744,691 passengers.

“Growth has been slow but positive and we hope to improve it this year. The CAB will continue to support Philippine tourism and business travels through strategic and key bilateral aviation partnerships,” CAB executive director Carmelo Arcilla said in the statement.

Demand for air travel is slowly picking up from the previous quarter when four of the country’s airports were shut down after Supertyphoon Yolanda swept through central Philippines and after the bombing of a popular restaurant in Cagayan de Oro that left six people dead.