Domestic air passengers grow 12% in Q1

MANILA, Philippines - Domestic air passenger traffic grew 12 percent in the first quarter of 2016, with Cebu Air Inc. (Cebu Pacific) topping the list of preferred airlines by travellers.

Latest data from the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) showed volume of domestic passengers reached 5.84 million in the January to March period this year, up from the 5.23 million in the same period in 2015.

Budget carrier Cebu Pacific was the market leader for the period as it flew 3.03 million passengers.

This was followed by PAL Express, which accounted for 1.15 million passengers, and Philippines AirAsia which had 657,102 passengers.

Placing fourth and fifth are flag carrier Philippine Airlines which flew 563,070 passengers during the three-month period, and CebGo with 377,096 passengers.

AirSwift Transport Inc. carried 33,515 passengers, while Magnum Air had 30,191 passengers.

Island Aviation Corp. and Southeast Asian Airlines International, meanwhile, did not fly passengers in the first quarter of the year.

Last year, the total volume of domestic passengers reached 22.08 million.

Domestic air traffic has been growing in the country amid promotional offers such as seat sales which offer the lowest possible fares.

The continuous network expansion of airlines has also helped drive the increase in domestic air traffic.