AirAsia Philippines said Friday the number of passengers it carried last year grew more than 50 percent on strong demand for air travel.
The Philippine unit of Southeast Asia’s largest budget carrier served 6.6 million passengers in 2023, up 57 percent from 4.2 million passengers flown in 2022.
AirAsia Philippines’s load factor also improved to 91 percent in 2023 from 89 percent in 2022.
The airline’s fourth-quarter number last year contributed 25 percent to the overall performance of the airline with 1.6 million passengers carried, translating to an 88-percent load factor.
“Our success and growth in passenger capacity reflects the strong demand for air travel. Other factors seen to have contributed to our increased capacity include stable jet fuel prices, and our monthly double digit sales which are anchored to providing the best deals to our guests,” AirAsia Philippines chief executive Ricky Isla said.
“This 2024, we will continue to strengthen our domestic presence while leveraging on our strong route network across ASEAN and beyond,” he said.
AirAsia Philippine said the various festivities slated towards the second quarter of the year and the summer season dictated the booking preferences of guests.
It said that as early as Jan. 25, AirAsia Philippines experienced an increase in forward bookings for March, April and May with more than 300,000 seats already sold for top domestic destinations such as Boracay, Bohol, Puerto Princesa and Cebu and international destinations Taipei, Narita, Tokyo and Incheon.
“The full return of our pre pandemic fleet this 2024 is seen to optimize flight frequency, re-activate previously shelved destinations, and open more international routes that will satisfy the travel needs of our guests,” Isla said.