AirAsia Philippines said it recorded a load factor of 93 percent as of Dec. 19, 2022.
The top-performing destinations preferred by guests for domestic travel include Zamboanga with a 98 percent load factor, Puerto Princesa, and Roxas with a 95 percent load factor.
Bangkok, on the other hand, topped the list of most booked international destinations with a 92 percent load factor, while Incheon comes in second with a 90 percent load factor.
Forward bookings for the month of January 2023 meanwhile have already reached 285,000 which is a 70 percent increase compared to the seats sold during the same month in 2022.
“We are seeing a robust travel demand next year, especially as travelers now become more comfortable with locking their trips ahead of time. A more relaxed protocol for international destinations has also set the pace for outbound travel which we expect to pick up next year as we open exciting new destinations,” said Ricky Isla, AirAsia Philippines chief executive officer, in a statement.
Gokongwei-backed Cebu Pacific Airlines (CEB) said it restored 92 percent of its pre-pandemic system-wide capacity following the continuous increase of its domestic and international routes.
The airline now flies an average of 355 flights a day, covering 34 domestic and 19 international destinations. This is equivalent to about 64,000 seats offered in a day.
To date, CEB has restored over 100 percent of its pre-pandemic domestic capacity, surpassing the airline’s December 2019 level.
CEB flew 13.3 million passengers from January to November 2022, up 493 percent from the same period in 2021, as people rushed back to travel following the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions.
“Our system-wide capacity is now approaching pre-pandemic levels. We’ve basically grown, in fact, much more than what we were doing pre-Covid at the domestic level. We are seeing green shoots of recovery. It is very encouraging to see more people confidently flying again, not just within the Philippines but even abroad,” said Xander Lao, chief commercial officer at Cebu Pacific, in a statement.
Meanwhile, Philippine Airlines said its domestic flights have hit 90 percent of pre-pandemic levels and are expected to reach 100 percent by December this year.
For international flights, the airline is at 60 percent of pre-pandemic level and will reach 70 percent also by December of this year.
“We are cautiously confident about the recovery. Although we know there are challenges moving forward—the possibility of a new variant. We acknowledge that we are not out of the woods yet in terms of the pandemic. We are cautious about that. We are cautious about the risks brought about by potential recession, the potential impact of a wider conflict in Eastern Europe. All of these things weigh heavily on us… so we are very cautious about how we make our projections and the routes that we undertake,” said PAL general counsel Carlos Luis Fernandez.
PAL recently strengthened its Cebu hub by mounting flights to Bangkok, Baguio, Borongan, Cotabato and Tawi-Tawi.