Domestic air travel grew 16% in first 6 months

Filipinos traveled in record numbers in the first half of the year, taking advantage of the steady drop in airfares driven by stiff competition in the local airline industry.

Government documents showed that the number of domestic airline passengers grew 15.9 percent to a record 9.72 million in the first six months from 8.38 million a year ago.

The growth in the number of passengers came amid the rapid expansion of local airlines to bring the total number of available seats to 12.12 million, up 16.8 percent from 10.37 million the year before, the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) reported.

Leading the charge was Gokongwei-led budget carrier Cebu Pacific, which increased its capacity by 5.6 percent and grew its passenger base by 3.84 percent to 4.25 million.

Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) saw its passenger numbers contract to 2.39 million from 2.88 million last year. This was after the company reduced the number of its seats to 3.1 million from last year’s 3.6 million.

Making up for PAL’s loss is sister company Air Philippines, now operating as AirPhil Express.

The Lucio Tan-led firm nearly tripled its passenger count to 1.85 million in the first half, up 176 percent from 667,686 last year. This was after its available seats rose 152 percent to 2.4 million. This made the company the fastest-growing airline in the period.

AirPhil Express has been on an aggressive expansion campaign since last year.

The industry’s growth has been attributed to the competition among local budget carriers, which were all fighting for a bigger share of the market by offering lower fares.

Businessman Alfred Yao’s Zest Airways nearly doubled its passengers in the six-month period to 1.14 million from 616,058 last year.

Southeast Asian Airways (SEAir) carried 97,326 passengers in January to June, lower than the 132,416 recorded in the same period last year.—Paolo G. Montecillo