The aviation market in the Philippines and the rest of the Asia Pacific region is swiftly recovering from the global pandemic that crippled the airline sector, industry experts said over the weekend.
Yuli Thompson, area manager for Southeast Asia of International Air Transport Association (IATA), said passenger traffic trends for international flights in the Philippines were logged at 75 percent of 2019 levels as of June 2023.
Thompson said that for the rest of Asia Pacific, domestic travel would fully recover in 2023, while international travel would occur sometime in 2026. Asia Pacific will lead traffic growth in the next 20 years.
Overcoming current challenges and riding on the current momentum and meeting full recovery will require strong interventions from all players in the aviation sector, Thompson said.
Cebu Pacific vice president for customer service operations Lei Apostol is looking to encourage travel by ensuring positive customer experience, which they aim to optimize across operations.
“Overcoming industry complexities and challenges while maximizing growth opportunities is achievable by looking at existing technology, keeping the passenger at the heart of what we do, and communicating to our passengers at every step of their journey,” Apostol said during the 2023 Aviation Summit.
Cebu Pacific chief executive Michael Szucs underscored the need to invest in infrastructure, as “Philippine carriers will need to quadruple in size to cater to growing demand”.
He said the growing middle class in the country would further boost the aviation industry in the coming years.
Meanwhile, Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista stressed the agency’s goal to rehabilitate the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) through a public-private partnership agreement, which would present a “landmark opportunity for economic growth, improved infrastructure and a world-class travel experience.”
“We are also developing regional airports, such as the unsolicited proposals for the operations and maintenance of the Bicol International Airport, Bohol-Panglao International Airport, and Laguindingan Airport,” said Bautista.
He highlighted the agency’s support on the use of sustainable aviation fuel or SAF by 2025.
“While the use of biofuels for flights is seriously studied, SAF use on ground equipment gets equal attention. We look forward to creating a plan on how best to proceed,” said Bautista.
He noted the existing efforts of the agency to privatize NAIA and the search for investors to develop regional airports and support tourism promotions.
“Airport networks provide a never-ending challenge to adapt and upscale our standards. We should respond with precision and efficiency to sustain passenger safety and comfort,” said Bautista.
“We have so far succeeded due to the cooperation of various stakeholders. We have also demonstrated that private sector collaboration has high success rates,” he said.