Local carriers hopeful of ending 2021 on high note

MANILA, Philippines — Local airlines are looking to end the year on a high note as restrictions in the country continue to ease and the cap on international passenger arrivals at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) is seen to further increase.

Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) said the opening of more local gateways and increases in arrival limits for Manila would enable the airline to add more international flights starting this month and leading up to the peak holiday season.

PAL said the government has facilitated the use of Cebu, Davao, Subic and other airports to help more overseas Filipinos fly home in time for the holidays.

The airline also welcomed the recent increase in Manila arrivals to 4,000 passengers per day shared among various airlines, from a previous 3,000 daily cap.

PAL senior vice president and chief strategy and planning officer Dexter Lee said PAL will be adding more flights from the Middle East, the US, Australia and various Asian countries in order to serve the needs of overseas Filipinos around the world.?

The flag carrier is likewise increasing flights to Manila from Los Angeles, New York, Guam, Singapore, Doha, Taipei, Sydney and Melbourne.

“With December just around the corner, we expect an influx of travelers who are eager to reunite with their families. Having alternative gateways gives us the flexibility to adjust our network so that we can fly more people home and support the revival of our local economy,” Lee said.

Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) executive director Carmelo Arcilla, in a television interview, said traditionally, there has been an uptick in air traffic in the country during the Christmas season.

Arcilla said the government is prepared to provide special charter flights if needed given that limitations on the international arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) are still in place.

He said the CAB hopes that the daily quota on inbound international passengers at NAIA would be raised further in the coming weeks.

“Now fortunately, in October it was increased to 3,000 and starting Nov. 1 it was increased to 4,000 again. So hopefully with the apparent decline in the rate of infection, the increase will be continuous,” Arcilla said.

“We are hoping that it would be raised to 5,000 or even more in the coming weeks, for us to address the needs of the passengers, especially this coming Christmas season,” he said.

AirAsia Philippines, meanwhile, said more destinations have reopened their borders for tourist travelers as the government continues to ease restrictions for fully vaccinated individuals.

Aside from Caticlan (Boracay), Bohol and Cebu, the carrier said leisure destinations such as Puerto Princesa, Iloilo province, Bacolod, Davao and Tacloban now only require vaccination cards in lieu of a COVID test or a medical certificate.

“Reopening of leisure travel for most parts of the country signals recovery for the tourism industry. AirAsia is definitely embracing all these developments to finally come back stronger, help more local economies thrive and recover post pandemic. The easing of restrictions provides a welcome boost to end the year on an encouraging note,” AirAsia Philippines spokesperson Steve Dailisan said.

AirAsia logged a 50 percent increase in seats sold for October, while load factor for the month also grew by 76 percent with Boracay, Cebu, Tacloban, Bohol and Iloilo as most preferred destinations.

The airline said the spike in forward bookings is also seen to increase further with the recent decision of the Department of Tourism to fully subsidize the RT-PCR test for qualified local tourists.

“Rebuilding confidence among our guests also entails our commitment to fly them on schedule with our guaranteed flights. As the air space gets busier, we are happy to share that last month our on-time performance logged at 91 percent,” Dailisan said.

Cebu Pacific, meanwhile, said majority of the destinations in its domestic network are already open for leisure travel.

To date, the airline said 21 out of the 33 destinations are already accepting vacationing guests.

“We are happy to share this update with everyJuan as we see more destinations in our country safely open up their borders. We firmly believe domestic tourism is the way to go – and we remain cautiously optimistic as we gradually ramp up our network to pave the way for domestic travel recovery,” Cebu Pacific vice president for marketing and customer experience Candice Iyog said.