International passengers served by airlines in the Philippines increased 5 percent in the first quarter from a year ago.
The moderate growth in passenger traffic was traced to slots limitation at Ninoy Aquino International Airport, the country’s main international gateway, according to the airline industry regulator.
Data from the Civil Aeronautics Board showed international passenger traffic reached 5.61 million in January to March, up from 5.34 million passengers in the same period last year.
International carriers flew 2.65 million passengers in the first three months while Philippine carriers served 2.95 million international passengers.
“We have to turn away foreign airlines because of the slots limitation at Naia,” CAB executive director Carmelo Arcilla said.
Philippines Airlines carried the most number of international passengers at 1.55 million in the three-month period, up form 1.46 million passengers last year.
This was followed by Cebu Pacific with 1.12 million passengers, a 34-percent increase from 837,942 passengers it carried last year.
Philippines Air Asia flew 222,330 passengers, while PAL Express had 60,992 passengers.
CAB earlier reported a 12-percent increase in domestic passengers to 5.84 million in the first quarter from 5.23 million a year ago.
Cebu Pacific remained the leader in the domestic market with 3.03 million passengers, followed by PAL Express with 1.15 million passengers and Philippines AirAsia with 657,102 passengers.
PAL flew 563,070 domestic passengers in the three-month period while CebGo carried 377,096 passengers.
AirSwift Transport Inc. served 33,515 local passengers, while Magnum Air had 30,191 passengers in the first three months.