AirAsia boosts Cebu hub

Reopens 5 Routes

1 September 2025

Low cost carrier AIRASIA Philippines (APG) is strengthening its Cebu hub as it reopens three domestic and two international routes starting Nov. 15, 2025.

The carrier will resume flights from Mactan Cebu International Airport to Iloilo, Caticlan and Davao, as well as to Kuala Lumpur and Macau, using its Airbus A320 fleet. Ticket sales open on Sept. 3 via the Move app and airasia.com.

AirAsia Philippines chief executive officer Suresh Bangah said it is reactivating another aircraft to support its Cebu expansion plans.

The airline operates a fleet of 15 Airbus A320 aircraft with the aim of operating 21 aircraft at the end of this year.

  

Philippines AirAsia To Add 19 A320s, 20 A321s

 27 June 2023

Philippine-based low cost carrier AirAsia expects to increase its fleet by nineteen A320s beginning July this year and return all remaining parked planes consisting of seven frames to service by August, according to Capital A President Tony Fernandes. 

PAA has current fleet of 15 A320 aircraft.

“We have already signed up 19 aircraft, and are negotiating for more,” Fernandes told the press at the Paris Air Show media briefing. 

“AirAsia also expects to have all 204 of its aircraft inventory reactivated by the end of August this year, and achieve 100% of pre-pandemic capacity in the coming months.” Fernandes said.

Fernandes says that he expects the first of the additional 19 aircraft to arrive in July from its fleet depot in Malaysia.

Fernandes says 362 A321-200NX are on order with Airbus, with deliveries scheduled from 2024, while long-haul AirAsia X operations would get an additional fifteen 15 widebodies (the three AirAsia X airlines operate A330-300s).

Out of the 362 A22N frames, Philippines will get “up to twenty” A321-200NY(XLR)s. He added that PAA will get 3-4 A330s out of the 15 orders, and would also begin flying into the Philippines soon, although he did not specify a timeline for this. 

Capital A’s cargo and logistics business, Teleport, is also expected to take the first of three A321Fs in July for operations also in the Philippines.

The group’s airline interests include Malaysia-based AirAsia, AirAsia X, Philippines AirAsia, Indonesia AirAsia, Indonesia AirAsia X, Thai AirAsia, and Thai AirAsia X. 

Fernandes said Capital A will also launch AirAsia Cambodia this year. 

PAA to resume HK, SG flights

Limit Passengers to OFWs, Diplomats, Foreign Residents, and Business Travelers

10 November 2021

AirAsia Philippines will resume flights to/from Singapore and Hong Kong in December, but only for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and business travelers.
 
"The resumption of these flights is still limited to essential travel. We are hoping that as Covid-19 cases continue to go down, and with the ongoing progress in the vaccination program, leisure travel will be allowed and border restrictions will be lifted among Filipinos towards the first quarter of 2022," AirAsia Philippines spokesperson Steve Dailisan told the Philippine News Agency.

Beginning Dec. 4, its weekly Manila-Singapore flight will depart Manila every Saturday at 8:00 a.m while a return flight will depart Changi Airport at 12:25 p.m.

On the other hand, a bi-weekly Manila-Hong Kong flight is scheduled on Sundays beginning December 5 at 8:35 a.m. The return flight will leave Hong Kong at 11:55 a.m. and is expected to land in Manila at 2 p.m.

AirAsia Inaugural Flight to Zamboanga

28 October 2020

Philippine Air Asia flew its inaugural flight to Zamboanga City yesterday. Due to Covid19 quarantine restrictions, airlines are allowed only to mount commercial flights every Tuesday and Thursday.

PAA In Race For Capital Infusion

As AirAsia Reports Local unit lost ₱2.3B

17 September 2020


The Kuala Lumpur-based low-cost airline said its Philippine AirAsia unit will be availing the loan accommodations provided by the Philippine government under the Bayanihan Act II. 

AirAsia Berhad said it has applied for bank loans in its operating markets, and that the regional low-cost carrier has been presented with proposals from investment bankers, lenders and potential investors to raise capital.

The airline group is seeking to raise as much as 2.5 billion ringgit ($600 million) by the end of the year as it tries to survive a business slump exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.

The group said Philippine AirAsia unit lost ₱2.3 billion in the second quarter of the year, wiping out the ₱1.87-billion profit the local carrier posted last year.

Majority stockholder Michael Romero said that after last year's reorganization, the airline was seeking to raise around $200 million this year or in early 2021, and that it had already tapped Citibank and BDO Capital as financial advisors for the planned initial public offering of Philippine AirAsia.

Romero said the plan will have to wait as his airline is “in active engagement” with its creditors to reschedule payments and reduce costs as well as to renegotiate terms of contracts as it tries to survive the pandemic.

The airline said the number of passengers it carried fell 99 percent in the second quarter from a year ago due to the travel restrictions brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.

PAA said passenger volume reached only 29,111 in the April to June period, down from 2.22 million passengers it flew in the same period last year.

The airline hibernated its fleet from March 20 to June 4 because of the COVID-19 outbreak.  Load factor fell by 36 percentage points to 55 percent from 91 percent.

“For the fourth quarter this year, AirAsia Philippines is targeting a recovery of domestic capacity up to 60 percent of pre-Covid-19 levels,” the company said.

Air Asia resumed limited domestic and international commercial flight schedules after Metro Manila reverted to the general community quarantine.

PAA Retrenches Work Force

6 June 2020

Budget carrier Philippines Air Asia (APG) is laying off 260 of its 2,200 workers by the end of this month as the airline braces to survival mode.

APG which is part of Malaysia-based AirAsia Group, is reducing its fleet to manageable levels by laying off workers from administrative staff, cabin and ground crew, to pilots.

APG senior management earlier went on voluntary unpaid leave in May and April and took pay cuts while the company trim its operating budget for the year by around half.

The company warned that more cuts were on the way if demand for air travel does not rise within the next 3 months.

The airline operates a fleet of 25 Airbus A320-200 aircraft.

APG is the latest Philippine carrier to downsize its workforce due to the virus pandemic. Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific Air have also laid off 450 employees and warns more lay off are coming if things don't go around.

PAA Registers Profit

Strengthens Domestic Network

9 March 2020

Low cost carrier airline AirAsia Philippines (PAA) has registered profit to its operations last year as it reported ₱1.87 billion in revenue, recovering from the ₱3.51-billion losses it incurred in 2018.

AirAsia Philippines CEO Ricardo Isla said the airline was focusing on its domestic expansion after the Philippine government imposed travel bans on China and South Korea, threatening up to 30 percent of its revenue.

“The airline’s financial target for this year has been greatly affected by the outbreak”, Isla said.


The airline plans to raise $200 million from an initial public offering this year to further expand its fleet. It hopes to double the number of its planes to 50 in the next two years.

But Isla said they may have to refocus its energy right now amid the raging corona virus (Covid-19) outbreak.

PAA said it may have to push back further the initial public offering (IPO) it proposes by third quarter this year to late 2021.

“We have to revisit and review the figures. We have to be practical,” adds Isla.

“To us the most important thing is to put focus on the domestic expansion,” he said.

PAA claimed a market share of 23 percent, up 4 percentage points, in 2019.

The airline will open Zamboanga and General Santos in March 29 both from Clark and Cebu. It will replace the axed Clark-Seoul route which ends March 28.

AirAsia’s destinations in Mindanao include Davao and Cagayan de Oro, which started operations in 2015 and 2018, respectively.

The airline operates 24 aircraft in more than 500 weekly domestic and international flights from Manila, Clark, Cebu and Kalibo.

PAA Upgrades Fleet

Takes A321neo to Address Growth

22 November 2019



Philippines AirAsia, Inc.(PAA) is acquiring Airbus A321neos to upgrade its existing fleet of Airbus A320s beginning next year, the Company official said yesterday.

“We continue to achieve our operational goals with our existing 24 A320s. Investing in newer additional aircraft will be advantageous for any airline in a slot-constrained environment,” Philippines AirAsia Chief Executive Officer Ricky P. Isla said in Hmaburg Thursday.

Isla said the PAA fleet of thirty (30) A321neos is already included by the AirAsia Group orders for 353 planes from Airbus.

“In fact, the delivery of this particular model is part of AirAsia’s plan to move from its existing fleet of A320neo aircraft to the larger A321neo”, says Isla.

AirAsia Berhad revealed the order for the A321neo at the Paris Air Show this year and announced the conversion of 253 A320neos to the larger A321neos types. This will make AirAsia the largest A321neo operator in the world.

The larger A321neo offers 50 seats more over the current A320neos. The existing fleet of A320s seats 180 passengers. It also provides 40% more cargo space for services to routes they currently operates.

“Eventually, majority of our aircraft will be A321neos and this is across the whole fleet,” AirAsia Group Aircraft Planning & Evaluation Head Matthew Glaus said at the delivery Center.

PAA said the new aircraft will be use for destinations in Hong Kong, China, Korea, Japan, and Malaysia. It will also service Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, and Bacolod from Manila.

Limited airport slots, particularly in Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport, are a consideration in tapping these A321neos as PAA growth stagnate for lack of capacity increase.

“Eventually, the standard will be the A321neo aircraft across our fleet including the Philippines,” Mr. Glaus said.

AirAsia’s current fleet consists of 194 A320CEOs (68 fitted with Sharklets), 40 A320Neos, 36 A330s, and two A330Neos. It has backlog orders for 13 A320Neos, 352 A321Neos, 30 A321XLRs, and 78 A330-900Neos intended for Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Japan and India. The A333neos are intended for Air Asia X in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

Romero Consolidates Stake At Philippines AirAsia

4 June 2019

Michael Romero has raised its stake at Air Asia Philippines to 44.4% from the previous 15.7% to become the dominant stockholder of the airline after F&S Holdings Inc. bought 15.7-percent share of AAI Chairman Marianne Hontiveros, and 13-percent share of Alfredo Yao for a combined 28.7 percent additional stake at parent Air Asia Inc. (AAI), operator of low-cost carrier Air Asia Philippines.

AAI parent Malaysia AirAsia International Ltd.’s share will stand at 39.9 percent stake and TNR Holdings of Tony Boy Cojuanco at 15.7 percent share, respectively. The amount of sale was not disclosed.

After the buyout, F&S Holdings intends to increase capitalization of Air Asia Philippines as it plans to issue $17 million worth of common shares and P17 billion worth of preferred shares.

Its corporate restructuring is set to be completed by September as it targets to go public within the year and raise $200 million to support its aircraft acquisition and use the proceeds as working capital. There will be no immediate change in the AirAsia Philippines board.

“We plan to put a valuation of about $600 million for the company,” Romero said. “We float at least 20 percent.”

This exercise will help the company raise roughly P10 billion, which will be used to acquire new planes and for general working capital.

Romero expressed bullishness on Philippines Air Asia’s capacity to return to profitability after posting a strong financial performance in the first three months of the year.

“Our first-quarter has hit a record-high of about…P6.68 billion and profit about P450 million…” Michael said.

The company eyes boosting Philippines AirAsia’s fleet to 50 A320 airplanes from the current 23 within the next three years.

“We now have 23 airplanes, and we plan to have 50 airplanes within the next three years. We also want our revenues to grow from P30 billion this year to P50 billion within three years,” Romero said.

The airline is also looking to raise the number of its passengers to 8 million this year from last year’s 7 million by growing its international routes to China and Japan.