Revenge travel going strong; 8-mo passenger volume up 11%
Ahead of the holiday season, Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) continues to see a surge in passenger volume as travel demand remains on the rise, beating prepandemic levels.
Manila International Airport Authority said that based on its latest monitoring, he country’s primary gateway accommodated 33.68 million passengers in January to August.
This is equivalent to a nearly 11-percent growth from the same period last year and exceeded the prepandemic level of 32.38 million recorded in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic that halted air travel struck in 2020.
More than half of the passengers as of August this year were accounted for by local travelers at 18.07 million while international passenger volume reached 15.61 million.
Along with this, the number of flights serviced at Naia grew by almost 11 percent to 196,313 during the eight-month period from 177,398 last year.
A total of 119,490 flights were operated locally for the period. Airlines, meanwhile, flew 76,824 flights to international destinations from Naia in January to August.
The local carriers said the passenger volume was only expected to grow in the coming months due to the celebration of holidays.
Airlines previously reported that popular destinations this holiday season include Boracay, Cebu, Bohol, Tacloban, Puerto Princesa and Iloilo, as well as, Hong Kong, Taipei, Incheon and Narita.
By next month, Naia Terminal 4 is set to undergo renovation and safety upgrades, which are targeted to be finished by February next year. All flights being operated from this hub will be transferred to Terminal 2.
It services the flights of boutique airlines AirSwift and Sunlight Air, as well as Cebu Pacific’s regional brand Cebgo Inc.
Currently, Terminal 4 handles about 2,900 passengers everyday. These represent 2.23 percent of the gateway’s daily passenger volume.
This month, Naia Terminal 3’s 20-year-old baggage handling system malfunctioned, leaving over 800 pieces of luggage checked in by Cebu Pacific passengers stranded at the airport.
The airline, along with New Naia Infra Corp. (NNIC), was able to resolve the matter and deliver the bags to the passengers.
NNIC said it had already procured a new and advanced system to avoid future disruptions.
