PHL domestic flights’ growth rising to new heights

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) sees Philippine domestic air travel taking off with one of the highest growth rates in the world over the next three years. A recent IATA report projects the Philippine domestic travel market growing 10.2 percent every year on average until 2014 in the wake of the expected economic boom China will be leading in the Asia Pacific region. In its latest industry outlook, IATA expects 3.3 billion travelers taking flights, up by 800 million from two years ago when air travelers numbered 2.5 billion. The government reported last week that domestic passenger traffic grew by 12.27 percent, or by about 16.5 million passengers. Local officials attributed this to the availability of low fares offered by budget carriers, as well as the rising income levels of local travelers. “We are an archipelago and we have 95 million people. That’s a big market so it’s not surprising that our market can become attractive for international airlines," Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) director general Carmelo Arcilla said in an interview. “We are seeing good growth levels on account of our liberal policies and competition between airlines," he added. He credited the healthy growth levels in the last few years for making the Philippines an attractive market for regional airline giants like Singapore’s Tiger Airways and Malaysia’s Air Asia. The Philippines will experience double-digit growth in flights at 10.2 percent, following Vietnam (10.9 percent), South Africa (10.6 percent), and India (10.5 percent), IATA said in its report. But all these countries are trailing after powerhouse China. China’s international and domestic travel markets are expected to expand faster than any other country in the world, with the highest expected annual growth rate of 13.9 percent up to 2014, resulting in an additional 181 million passengers. IATA also expects China to be the fastest growing market for international passenger traffic at 10.8 percent, followed by the United Arab Emirates (10.2 percent), Vietnam (10.2 percent), Malaysia (10.1 percent) and Sri Lanka (9.5 percent). “The focus of the industry continues to shift eastward. By 2014, 1 billion people will travel by air in Asia Pacific. That’s 30 percent of the global total and a 4 percentage-point increase from the 26 percent it represented in 2009," IATA CEO Giovanni Bisignani said in a statement. — MRT/PE/VS, GMA News