Domestic Air travel Jumps 230% in 1st Quarter

30 May 2022

Domestic Air travel in 2022 showed signs of strong recovery after registering first quarter surge of 230% of passengers as compared to the same period recorded last year.

Data from the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) showed that domestic passenger traffic from January to March stood at 3.26 million, a 230 percent jump from the 988,212 recorded in the same period in 2021.

Transporting the most number of passengers is budget carrier Cebu Pacific, and subsidiary CebGo which carried during the quarter with 1.87 million, followed by flag carrier Philippine Airlines and PAL Express with 895,539. Meanwhile, AirAsia Philippines came third with 474,064, while Ayala unit, AirSwift Transport Inc., carried 18,805 passengers during the three-month period.

CAB said  domestic passenger traffic for the first quarter is already more than half of 2021’s full year domestic passenger volume, which stood at 5.53 million, an indication that air travel is on its way to recovery this year.

Local airline operators have seen a strong rebound in domestic travel in the second quarter this year, with the easing of travel restrictions and reopening of borders.

Cebu Pacific announced that it is in the process of restoring 100 percent of its domestic pre-pandemic capacity right in time for the summer season. Its domestic network currently has over 50 routes spanning Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

Meanwhile, Philippine Airlines, expects to return to pre-pandemic levels in its domestic network within the second or third quarter. 

The airline said some of its Visayas-Mindanao routes, and some of its intra Mindanao route remains suspended. It is however opening new services in Mindanao with plans to inaugurate next month the first-ever air links within the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao through regular jet flights between Cotabato City and Tawi-Tawi.