MCIA cargo volume up 10% in first half

CEBU, Philippines — Cargo volume processed at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport further recovered in the first half of 2017 posting a 10 percent growth.

Cargo traffic at the country's second busiest airport reached 33.82 million kilograms from January to June this year.

That is up by 10 percent from 30.87 million kgs recorded in the same period last year.

Of the total, domestic cargoes accounted for about 75 percent while international cargoes made up 25 percent.

Official data from MCIA Authority showed that domestic cargoes during the period reached 24.82 million kgs, up by 6 percent from 23.33 million kgs handled in the same period last year.

Likewise, the volume of international cargoes also registered a double-digit increase to 9 million kgs, up by 19 percent from 7.54 million kgs last year.

Cargo traffic from January to November of 2016 reached 60.952 million kilograms, a 23 percent drop from 79.016 million kg recorded in the same period in 2015,.

Domestic cargoes reached 45.426 million kg, down 25 percent from 60.827 million kg processed in the comparable period in 2015. While international cargoes also dropped to 15.526 million kg, down 15 percent from 18.189 million kg.

According to Centre for Aviation, MCIA has emerged as one of the fastest growing airports in Asia, recording a double-digit passenger growth in 2016 to 8.8 million passengers.

In April 2014, GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp., the consortium between Megawide and Bangalore-based GMR Infrastructure Ltd., won the P17.5-billion concession to rehabilitate and manage MCIA for 25 years, including the construction of a second terminal for international passengers. The Terminal 2 construction is ongoing and is expected to be operational by end of June 2018.

GMCAC took over operations of MCIA in November 2014. It is also undertaking renovations in Terminal 1 to improve operating efficiency. (FREEMAN)