Domestic air passenger traffic hit a record high of 32.1 million in 2024, the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) said Monday.
Data from CAB showed that domestic passenger traffic reached 32.13 million last year, up by 10.98 percent from 28.96 million passengers in 2023.
Cebu Pacific remained the country’s leading domestic airline carrying 15 million passengers, followed by PAL Express (8.51 million), Philippine AirAsia (4.99 million), CebGo (2.26 million) and Philippine Airlines (633,060).
AirSwift Transport Inc. flew 430,996 passengers, Sunlight Express Airways (134,627), Royal Air Charter Service Inc. (38,845) and Island Aviation Corp. (12,057).
The international passenger traffic in 2024 reached 27.77 million, up by 11.93 percent from 24.81 million passengers in 2023.
The CAB said of the total, domestic carriers carried 13.20 million international passengers, while foreign carriers carried 14.58 million passengers.
PAL was the leading airline with 6.07 million international passengers, followed by Cebu Pacific (5.66 million), Philippine AirAsia (1.33 million), Royal Air Charter Service (116,324) and PAL Express (9,529).
The CAB earlier announced that the passenger and cargo fuel surcharges for domestic and international flights would be at Level 5 from March 1 to 31, 2025, up from last month’s level 4.
Under level 5, the fuel surcharge for domestic flights would range from P151 to P542, depending on the distance, while for international flights, the fuel surcharge may range from P498 to P775.
The CAB said for the cargo fuel surcharge, airlines are allowed to charge P0.77 to P2.27 per kilogram for domestic flights under level 5 and P2.56 to P19.04 per kg. for international flights.
“Airlines wishing to impose or collect fuel surcharge must file its application with CAB on or before the effectivity period, with fuel surcharge rates not exceeding the above-stated level,” the CAB said.
Airline fuel surcharge is an optional fee, imposed and collected by airlines to recover fuel costs and stem losses caused by upward spikes in fuel cost.