Friday, June 08, 2007
N. Mindanao's air traffic up in 2006
A 15.5 percent increase in the number of incoming and 15.3 percent of outgoing air passengers has been recorded by the Cagayan de Oro City's Lumbia Airport in 2006.
Data gathered by the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) in Northern Mindanao and from the Air Transportation Office (ATO) showed there was a total of 303,143 incoming and 303,069 outgoing air passengers, last year, compared to 262,542 incoming and 262,802 outgoing passengers in 2005.
Pinoy Votes: Sun.Star Election 2007 Coverage
View here the list of local winners
This, despite the decline in the incoming and outgoing flights by 0.4 percent, from 3039 to 3,027 flights for both as smaller aircrafts were replaced with bigger ones to accommodate more passengers, Neda Regional Director Myra V. Balandra said.
Meanwhile, the volume of incoming air cargoes dropped by -3.0 percent and outgoing cargoes a -5.0 percent.
"The reduction in the volume of air cargoes can be attributed to the shippers' preference for the roll-on, roll-off (RO-RO) services of water vessels that offer lesser transport cost of their goods," she said.
On the other hand, a slight reduction in the number of ship calls was recorded in the ports of the region, from 31,863 in 2005 to 31,622 in 2006 or a negative -0.8 percent as those made by domestic vessels dropped from 31,156 to 30,908 or a -0.8 percent. However, ship calls made by foreign vessels increased from 707 to 714 or one percent.
Balandra said data from the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) and the different ports under the Port Management Office (PMP) show the volume of sea cargoes increased by 1.9 percent, from 22,769,703 metric tons to 23,203,532 metric tons.
Foreign cargoes posted a five percent increase, from 13,852,816 metric tons to 14,540,208 metric tons but domestic cargoes declined, from 8,916,887 metric to 8,663,325 metric tons or a -2.8 percent.
Of the foreign sea cargoes, imports posted an increase of 3.7 percent, from 6,555,720 metric tons to 6,795,473 metric tons and exports, by 6.1 percent, from 7,297,096 metric tons to 7,744,735 metric tons.
However, of the domestic sea cargoes, those inbound posted a negative 4.7 percent, from 4,900,057 metric tons to 4,668,996 metric tons and outbound, also a -0.6 percent, from 4,016,830 metric tons to 3,994,327 metric tons.
Similarly, sea passengers in the region, last year, dropped from 6,603,733 to 5,614,883 or a -15 percent, as those disembarking declined, from 3,298,029 to 2,806,980 or a -14.9 percent and those embarking, from 3,305,704 to 2,807,903 or a -15.1 percent.
The decline in the number of sea passengers, however, could be attributed to the passengers' preference for air flights due to lesser time spent on trip and the low air fare rates offered by the various airline companies serving the Manila-Cagayan de Oro and vice-versa routes, Balandra further said.(Trends)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Davao. (June 8, 2007 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board. Click here. |
