Philippine Airlines and AirAsia Philippines said Friday they are ramping up domestic flights to meet the surge of demand for air travel during the Christmas season.
AirAsia Philippines said it restored 30 percent of its pre-pandemic capacity, doubling and tripling its frequencies for most of domestic destinations. The budget airline also returned to Hong Kong and Singapore to service overseas Filipino workers and business travelers.
AirAsia Philippines said it is flying Manila-Puerto Princesa six times weekly; Manila-Iloilo, nine times weekly; Manila-Cagayan, six times weekly; Manila-Caticlan, 28 times weekly; Manila-Tacloban, 21 times weekly; Manila-Tagbilaran, 11 times weekly; Manila-Cebu, 21 times weekly; Manila-Cagayan, five times weekly; Manila-Davao, seven times weekly; Manila-Zamboanga, four times weekly; Manila-GenSan, twice weekly; Manila-Singapore, weekly; and Manila-Hong Kong, once every two weeks.
“We are banking on ‘revenge travel’ for a very strong 2022 recovery. People now have the confidence to plan for their future trips as reflected in the forward bookings from 31 to 120 days,” said Steve Dailisan, spokesperson of AirAsia Philippines.
“This booking behavior can be significantly attributed to the continuing downtrend of daily COVID-19 infections and the ongoing progress of the government’s nationwide vaccination program,” he said.
PAL spokesperson Cielo Villaluna said they are increasing flights across the airline’s domestic route network.
“We are gradually reopening flights to Basco via four flights this December,” she said.
Vilalluna said that flights between Manila and Iloilo would increase from 9 to 14 flights weekly effective Dec. 10, while flights between Manila and Bacolod would increase from 7 to 14 flights weekly effective Dec. 16.
She said there are eight daily flights between Manila and Cebu, up from five daily flights in November.
“We have twice daily Manila-Tagbilaran-Manila flights and twice weekly Davao-Tagbilaran flights. From Iloilo, one can fly to Cebu, Davao and General Santos,” Villaluna said.
PAL’s Manila-Zamboanga -Manila frequency is now at 6 flights weekly, while Manila-Davao-Manila is at 28 flights weekly.
“Flights on the Manila-GenSan-Manila route is now at 7 flights weekly,” Villaluna said.