Passenger traffic builds up at Mactan airport in Q1

MANILA, Philippines — GMR Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. (GMCAC) saw passenger traffic at the  Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) grow by double digit in the first quarter as more carriers increased connectivity from Cebu.

GMCAC said domestic traffic at MCIA rose by 13 percent to two million passengers in the first quarter, while international traffic grew almost 10 percent to around one million passengers.

The company manages the terminal operations and other related areas of the MCIA since it took over in 2014 after it was awarded with a 25-year build-operate-transfer concession agreement.

To further help boost passenger traffic at the MCIA, GMCAC recently welcomed Royal Air Philippines as its newest airline partner as the homegrown airline expands its operations in Central Visayas.

Royal Air started offering  since May 21  direct flights to five domestic routes namely, Manila, Davao, Puerto Princesa, Cagayan de Oro, and Caticlan.

“We are proud to be working with a carrier such as Royal Air Philippines who shares our vision to increase connectivity in the Central and Southern Philippines,” GMCAC president Louie Ferrer said.

“The launch of Royal Air Philippines is timely as we are now seeing double-digit growth in traffic at the MCIA. We greatly welcome the support of Royal Air and our partner carriers in increasing domestic connectivity from Cebu. Most tourist areas in Visayas and Mindanao are only 25 to 30 minutes flying time from MCIA and we will continue to push in making Cebu a hub for both domestic and international flights,” Ferrer said.

With the addition of Royal Air, MCIA now has seven Philippine-based airline partners and 18 foreign airline partners.

The gateway is connected to 29 domestic destinations and 22 international destinations.

“With more aircraft coming in later in the year, we are ready to open additional routes which we will launch from our Cebu hub. Royal Air is serious in expanding our market reach across the southern region; it is one of the many ways we can make the journey pleasant for our customers.” Royal Air Philippines CEO Ed Novillas said.