Passenger volume, flights increased in 2015 – MCIA

CEBU, Philippines - The Mactan-Cebu International Airport saw robust growth in passenger volume and number of flights in 2015.

Latest data from MCIA Authority bared that a total of 62,213 incoming and outgoing flights, both domestic and international, were recorded in 2015, up by 10.54 percent from 56,281 in 2014.

The Mactan airport also posted a 13.76 percent increase in passenger traffic, both local and foreign, last year to 7.78 million from 6.84 million in 2014. It registered 5.77 million outgoing and incoming local passengers and 2.01 million foreign travelers.

In 2015 MCIA registered a total of 48,850 outgoing and incoming domestic flights and 13,363 international flights.

In a phone interview yesterday, Andrew Acquaah-Harrison, chief executive advisor of GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. (GMCAC), attributed this growth to the new domestic and international routes offered by airline companies operating at the airport.

"That is where the growth is coming from," Harrison told The FREEMAN.

Harrison projected that growth in terms of aircraft and passenger traffic this year will remain to be robust, supported by the new routes.

He even noted that 2016 started off right, registering a 9% increase in traffic in January due to mainly to the two big events that happened in Cebu last month – the Sinulog festival and the 51st International Eucharistic Congress.

Both events drew a lot of both local and foreign visitors.

In an interview last December, MCIAA General Manager Nigel Paul Villarete had said the growth in both aircraft and passenger traffic could be attributed to the major changes happening at the airport. 

GMCAC already started the construction of MCIA Terminal 2 on January 22, 2016 and targets to complete it by February 2018.

GMCAC is the government's partner in the P17.52-billion MCIA modernization project.

GMCAC took over the terminal operations at the Mactan airport starting November 2014. (FREEMAN)