Sunlight Air still bullish despite price hikes
Boutique airline Sunlight Air, which recently acquired a new turboprop, still sees strong demand for chartered flights despite the increase in prices.
Ryna Brito-Garcia, Sunlight Air CEO, said that chartered flight rates had gone up to P300,000 for a single trip from P250,000 previously because of the general uptick in costs.
Still, the millennial CEO said they were expecting good traction in this segment, with corporate clients driving the growth.
Brito-Garcia said they operate six chartered flights per month.
“With chartered flights, you basically own the entire aircraft. So you are not limited to a certain baggage limitation per head,” she said.
The airline also provides shuttle services going to the airport for the passengers flying privately.
This year, Brito-Garcia said they were expecting an increased momentum in their operations after flying 30,000 passengers in 2024.
The CEO said they already saw a 30-percent growth in seat load factor in January. This metric estimates how many available seats were sold to passengers.
She anticipates strong demand to continue until the summer season when more passengers go to island destinations that the airline services.
Last month, the boutique airline announced it had acquired an ATR 72-600, which has a seating capacity of up to 68 passengers.
This will beef up its existing fleet of three ATR 72-500s. In 2024, the airline said it was planning to buy or lease two more units in the next two to three years.
The new unit is seen supporting the company’s plan of increasing frequencies in its existing routes and exploring new destinations.
The carrier currently flies from Clark, Cebu and Manila to Boracay, Coron, Siargao and Cagayan de Oro.
Moving forward, Brito-Garcia said they were also mulling over the acquisition of a bigger jet that can accommodate more passengers and longer flights to farther destinations as they scale their operations.
“With the development of our country to progress further to make tourism and traveling more efficient, airlines will also make their moves,” she said.
