GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. (GMCAC) reported an increase in flight frequencies at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) since March this year.
Seven domestic flights and two international flights were launched by local and international flag carriers as of March 28.
Cebu Pacific (CEB) introduced a four-times-weekly service to Narita Airport in Tokyo, Japan, while AirAsia Philippines launched a four-times-weekly service to Kota Kinabalu Airport in Malaysia.
Cathay Pacific extended its frequency on its Hong Kong route from a daily service to 10 times weekly, while Philippine Airlines (PAL) has reinstated its daily flights to Cagayan de Oro, Tacloban, Davao and Iloilo, as well as a four-times-weekly service to Butuan and three-times-weekly flights to Bacolod City.
Tigerair Philippines, on the other hand, opened its Cebu-Puerto Princesa route, offering daily flights to and from these destinations.
“GMCAC has worked with its partner airlines in the launching of these new routes and increased frequencies with the compelling argument that demand for tourist and business travel is increasing,” said Andrew Acquaah-Harrison, GMCAC chief executive advisor, in a statement.
Harrison said that GMCAC foresees a year-on-year increase in the combined number of domestic and international flights leaving MCIA to various destinations.
“Along with our partners and stakeholders, we are actively pursuing potential new airlines and routes through various initiatives all geared towards increasing travel and tourism to Cebu and the surrounding Visayas,” he said.
MCIA logs an average of 80 domestic flights a day and 17 to 20 international flights a day, an indication of Cebu’s robust tourism industry, said Estee Marie Patiño-Plunket, head of corporate affairs of GMCAC.
She noted yesterday that the firm’s marketing team is looking at various strategies on how to further increase flights to Cebu.
“We continue to negotiate with more airlines to increase frequencies or open routes to Cebu. We are also courting the airlines to reinstate their flights here, especially those that serve the Middle East routes,” said Plunket.
GMCAC also reported it has prioritized the reduction of congestion in the terminal by optimizing space and increasing the number of X-ray machines to process passengers.
An enhanced Domestic Initial Security Check zone has been opened for domestic passengers.
These measures are designed to address the fact that the terminal is designed for an annual throughput of 4.5 million passengers but is accommodating beyond capacity at seven million passengers per annum.
GMCAC said it is also undertaking to improve passenger processes, its IT systems and the terminal environment.
GMCAC is the private company that began to operate MCIA last November 2014 under a public-private partnership (PPP). It is set to build a new terminal in Mactan.