MCIA revenue up 38% in Q1

CEBU, Philippines — The Mactan-Cebu International Airport saw its revenues rise by 38% in the first quarter, driven by strong passenger traffic.

Operations at the country's second busiest air hub drove three-month revenues to P892 million, up 38% from P646 million.

Megawide Construction, the Filipino firm in consortium airport operator GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp., said airport operations continued to show steady improvement after the opening of Terminal 2 last July 2018.

"In the first quarter, revenues rose by 9% from the previous quarter and 38% above the same period last year prior to the opening of Terminal 2," Megawide told the stock exchange in a regulatory disclosure.

From January to March, MCIA's passenger volume rose 13% growth to 3.05 million.

International and domestic passengers grew 11% and 15%, respectively.

Domestic passengers comprised 66% of the total passenger traffic while international passengers accounted 34%.

Air traffic volume likewise increased by 5% with international traffic rising by 10% and domestic traffic improving by 3%.

In January, MCIA welcomed the China Southern Airlines maiden flight from Guangzhou while Juneyao Airlines re-launched their Shanghai – Cebu services.

Meanwhile, Philippines AirAsia launched its Cebu to Macau in February.

Several airlines operated chartered flights during the Chinese New Year peak season.

EVA Air added flights from Taipei, while China Eastern Airlines brought in passengers from Nanjing and Wuxi.

Philippine Airlines also operated flights from Wenzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing and Chengdu.

As of March 2019, MCIA is serving 30 domestic and 20 international destinations with 25 partner carriers.

MCIA operations accounted 25% of Megawide's P3.56-billion revenue in the first three months.

Its construction remained the core revenue driver at 72%.

The balance of 3% came from the combined airport merchandising and terminal operations. (FREEMAN)