Zest Air eyes more international flights

MANILA, Philippines - Zest Airways Inc. is planning to launch more international flights this year as it seeks to increase the number of its passengers and revenues, an official said.

“Our focus is on the international routes,” Alfredo Herrera, Zest Air chief marketing and sales officer told reporters yesterday.

He said the carrier is set to start its flights from Manila to Incheon, South Korea on June 28, and to launch flights from Manila to Shanghai in China on July 25.

The carrier, he added, would start flying from Manila to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia in October.

Zest Air currently has only one international direct flight from Manila. Its only international flight from Manila to Jinjiang, China was launched in April.

Zest Air’s other international flights are from Kalibo and Cebu with destinations such as Incheon and Pusan in South Korea, Shanghai and Beijing in China, and Taipei in Taiwan.

Herrera said the carrier is still planning to launch other international flights apart from the three new routes from Manila.

He said Zest Air is likewise looking to add two to the nine A320s it currently has within the year.

He said the move to launch more international flights this year is in line with utilizing its entitlements and increasing the number of its passengers as well as revenues.

Last year, he noted that Zest Air had 2.1 million domestic passengers and 220,000 international passengers.

“This year we are looking at roughly about for international, half a million (500,000) and a little increase in domestic passengers,” he said noting that the carrier is aiming for its total number of passengers to reach between three to 3.5 million.

He also said that as the carrier increases international flights, it also expects revenues to rise from last year’s P6 billion.

He declined to say how much the carrier expects revenues to grow this year as they have yet to come up with a projection.