Intl passenger traffic grows, signalling recovery

International passenger traffic through the Philippines grew by 9.6 percent to 3.4 million in the first quarter of the year from 3.1 million a year earlier, indicating the travel industry may be recovering from 2009’s depressed conditions. About 1.63 million incoming passengers were recorded in the first three months, with 1.804 million as outgoing in the same period, the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) said Wednesday. International passenger traffic last year dipped because of global recession and the swine flu outbreak that hounded the aviation industry. Filipinos were encouraged by the low fares of local airliners to travel abroad, despite the slowdown in the global air travel, the board said. “There’s very vibrant competition between local airlines and there are many products in the market, so consumers have lots of choices," CAB executive director Carmelo Arcilla said in an interview. Still, compared to Singaporeans and other nationalities in the region, Filipinos traveled less by air, which shows there is plenty of room for growth, the CAB said. “There are also a lot of first time travelers now… even amid serious challenges to the market, like the ban on Philippine carriers to fly to the European Union," Arcilla said. Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL), however, grew slower than the industry average in terms of passengers served in the first three months of the year. The Lucio Tan-led airliner carried 942,144 passengers, up 6.9 percent year-on-year. Gokongwei-owned budget carrier Cebu Pacific recorded a 36-percent growth in passengers served which totaled 492,114 in the period. Alfredo Yao’s Zest Air carried 15,283 passengers in the first three months with no comparative numbers from a year earlier as it was still in the process of activating domestic and international destinations. —VS, GMANews.TV