Domestic cargo volume expands 12.4% in 2013

MANILA, Philippines - The volume of cargo carried by local airlines in the domestic market posted a double-digit growth of 12.4 percent amid the extensive and expanding route network as well as multiple daily flight schedules. 

Data released by the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) showed domestic cargo traffic reached 229.98 million kilograms last year or 25.34 million more than the 204.64 million kg carried in 2012. 

Budget airline Cebu Pacific cornered a 47.6 percent share of total cargo volume after carrying 109.65 million kg last year, 10.1 percent more than the 99.55 million kg carried a year ago. 

Flag carrier Philippine Airlines Inc. (PAL) accounted for 25.9 percent of total volume with 59.53 million kg last year. 

PAL’s low-cost carrier unit, PAL Express, cornered a share of 17 percent after shipping 39.15 million kg last year or 53.8 percent higher than the previous year’s 25.45 million kg.

PAL transferred almost all of its domestic flights to PAL Express last August to focus on international destinations as it gears up for long-haul operations to the US and Europe. 

AirAsia Zest, the rebranded airline of Philippines AirAsia and Zest Airways Inc., carried 16.94 million kg of cargo last year or 14.6 percent lower compared to 19.83 million kg in 2012. 

Tiger Airways Philippines, which is being acquired by Cebu Pacific for $15 million, carried 3.33 million kg of cargo last year compared to only 99,005 kg in 2012. 

Earlier, the state-run Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) reported that the volume of cargo shipped in and out of the Philippines through the country’s seaports went up three percent to 199.18 million metric tons last year from 193.44 million MT in 2012. 

Cargo shipped within the Philippines inched up 1.44 percent to 76.77 million MT from 75.69 million MT while cargo shipped in and out of the country climbed 3.95 percent to 122.4 million MT from 117.75 million MT.