Cargoes handled by the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) in the first quarter of 2015 declined 18% to 12.722 million kilograms from 15.517 million kilos in the same period last year.
Data from the Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA) showed a sharp 28% drop in the volume of domestic cargoes, which accounted for 66.6% of the total. From January to March 2015, MCIA serviced 8.473 million kilos of domestic air cargo, down from 11.699 million kilos during the same period last year.
International cargoes, which contributed 33.4% of the total, on the other hand increased 11.3% to 4.249 million kilos from 3.818 million kilos in 2014.
Flight traffic improved 7.03% during the first quarter to 15,782 flights from 14,746 flights in the same period last year. The number of local flights rose 12.5% to 12,884 from 11,455, while that for international flights slipped 11.9% to 2,898 from 3,291 last year.
Passenger number declined 4.9% to 1.749 million passengers from 1.84 million passengers last year. Domestic passenger number dropped 0.7% to 1.326 million from 1.336 million, while foreign passengers decreased 16% to 423,173 from 503,957 last year.
The country’s second busiest gateway saw the launch of seven new domestic flights and two new international flights during the first quarter.
Flag carrier Philippine Airlines reinstated its daily flights to Cagayan de Oro, Tacloban, Davao, and Iloilo, as well as four-times-a-week service to Butuan and thrice-a-week flights to Bacolod City.
Cebgo, formerly Tigerair Philippines, launched daily flights between Cebu and Puerto Princesa.
Low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific Air opened a service with frequency of four times each week to Narita Airport in Tokyo, Japan, while AirAsia Philippines launched a service with the same frequency to Kota Kinabalu Airport in Malaysia.
Cathay Pacific increased the frequency of its Hong Kong service from daily to 10 times weekly.
GMR-Megawide Consortium, which won the operations and maintenance contract for MCIA last year, has earmarked at least P20 billion to transform the air hub into the world’s first resort-airport featuring 20 aircraft parking stands with aerobridges and 13 aircraft parking stands served by bus transfers. – Roumina Pablo
