AirAsia unit in PH posts 25% jump in 2019 passenger traffic

AirAsia Philippines saw 2019 passenger traffic surge higher by 25 percent as it added planes and new destinations.

The budget airline, part of Malaysia’s AirAsia Group, carried 8.55 million passengers last year versus 6.87 million at the end of 2018, a filing to the Malaysian stock exchange showed.

During this period, AirAsia Philippines increased its fleet of Airbus A320s to 24 planes from 22 the previous year while opening new local and international connections.

These were Manila-Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro-Manila, Manila-Caticlan and Bangkok-Manila, the carrier said.

By the end of 2019, AirAsia Philippines had a total capa­ci­ty of 9.7 million seats, up 20

percent.The outlook for 2020, however, was less certain given the impact of the novel coronavirus on the global travel industry.

Following travel bans issued by the Philippine government, AirAsia Philippines suspended flights to mainland China, its special administrative regions Hong Kong and Macau as well as Taiwan.

AirAsia Philippines’ mainland China operations included Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Shanghai.