AirAsia Philippines said Monday domestic travel booking in the first quarter was unaffected by the Omicron variant scare.
Data from AirAsia Philippines showed that the uptick in COVID-19 cases in January did not affect domestic travel, as the airline recouped 42 percent of its pre-COVID flight frequency this month.
The budget airline showed a 182-percent increase in capacity for the month of January from a year ago. The airline said seats sold for the month also increased by 200 percent while load factor improved by 10 percent.
AirAsia Philippines said Caticlan, Cebu and Tacloban dominated the top destinations for both leisure and essential travels. The airline started to gradually increase domestic flights for Davao, Iloilo, Cagayan De Oro, Bacolod, Puerto Princesa, Panglao and Kalibo in preparation for a possible influx of travelers in February.
“We will continue to service our guests this 2022 with safe and timely flights. We, in the travel industry, also have our sights set on cautiously restoring our pre-pandemic flight frequency this year as we are positive the pandemic will take a turn for the better before end-2022,” said AirAsia Philippines spokesperson Steve Dailisan.