The Philippines’ two busiest air hubs—Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA)—recorded rosy cargo volumes in the first half of 2015, data from the Manila International Airport Authority and Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority showed.
For the first six months of 2015, NAIA posted 276,279.53 metric tons of cargo, 14.12% higher than the 242,091.62 metric tons handled in the same period last year.
Of the total, 61.5% or 169,792.15 metric tons were accounted for by foreign cargoes, which is a 5.3% increment from last year’s 161,256.28 metric tons.
Domestic cargoes shot up 31.7% to 106,487.38 metric tons in 2015 from 80,835.34 metric tons previously.
Flights to the Manila hub rose 3.3% to 124,946 in the January-June 2015 period from 120,899 flights year-on-year. Passenger traffic ballooned 43.3% to 4.4 million passengers from 3.07 million passengers.
Meanwhile, cargo traffic at MCIA likewise surged, expanding 45% to 45.598 million kilograms in the first half from 31.478 million kilos in the same period in 2014.
Domestic cargoes, which accounted for 78% of the total, rose 47.1% to 35.459 million kilos from 24.104 million kilos. Foreign cargoes also surpassed the first-half 2014 volume of 7.374 million kilos with 10.139 million kilos for a 37.5% growth.
Flights went up 5% to 31,591 from 30,116 previously. More passengers likewise used the Visayas hub, with figures rising to 3.92 million passengers, up 9% from 3.59 million last year. – Roumina Pablo
