MCIA passenger traffic hit 7.5M

January september period

CEBU, Philippines — Passenger traffic at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport, the country’s second busiest airport, hit 7.547 million from January to September this year.

Based on official data from MCIA Authority, Mactan airport's passenger traffic in the first nine months of 2017 rose 14 percent to 7.547 million from 6.599 million in the same period last year.

The airport has set a 10-million passenger arrival target for 2017.

During the nine-month period, international passengers grew 31 percent to 2.350 million from 1.797 million last year.

While domestic passengers reached 5.197 million, up 8 percent from 4.801 million last year.

Meanwhile, air traffic volume also saw a 20 percent growth from January to September this year to 64,102 from 53,204 last year.

International flights reached 15,483, up 35 percent from 11,454 last year, while domestic flights rose 16 percent to 48,619 from 41,750.

Publicly listed Megawide Construction Corp. had said its airport business remains strong with the double digit increase in passenger and air traffic volume at the MCIA.

Megawide took over operations of the Mactan airport in November 2014 through GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. (GMCAC) with its Bangalore-based foreign partner GMR Infrastructure Ltd.

In a previous stock exchange filing, Megawide said first half 2017 earnings contribution from MCIA operations jumped 15 percent to P550.92 million from P480.87 million in same period in 2016.

"Airport operations business now accounts to 48 percent of the total business of the Group," the diversified infrastructure company said.

The construction of MCIA's new passenger Terminal 2 is in full swing and is expected to be completed on schedule in June next year.

This will bring the airport’s capacity to a total of 12.5 million passengers per annum.

In 2017, the company was able to bring in 22 major international and domestic airlines serving 33 domestic and 16 international destinations.

Megawide expects its airport business segment to gain traction with its continuous effort to market Cebu as an alternative international gateway to the Philippines, given its strategic geographical location and proximity to tourist destinations in southern Philippines.

MCIA recorded a 12 percent increase in passenger traffic in 2016 to 8.9 million – 6.7 million domestic passengers and 2.2 million international – as it aims to reach 10 million passenger arrivals this year.

GMCAC seeks to pursue new and diverse routes and increasing travel and tourism to the Visayas-Mindanao regions.

For the next two years, the firm is planning to introduce new routes that will connect Cebu to Australia, Europe and other Southeast Asian countries, as well as expand routes to China, Japan and South Korea.

The company is also targeting new flights to North Asia, the Middle East, North America, and Europe.

Destination marketing is MCIA's main strategy in strengthening Cebu’s connectivity.

Promoting the province and its surrounding areas to other Asian countries, especially China, is among GMCAC's highest priorities.

Studies have shown that China is the highest spending tourist market in the world - and that there's a need to bring this high-spending Chinese market to Cebu.

Last November, two Chinese airlines namely Juneyao Airlines and Okay Airlines started servicing flights at Mactan airport.

Early this month, flag carrier Philippine Airlines also launched the first ever Cebu-Bangkok Thailand route and four new domestic routes from Cebu. (FREEMAN)