AirAsia Philippines is taking advantage of post-pandemic growth and is aiming 500,000 seats sold for Asia-Pacific (APAC) destinations in the fourth quarter of 2023.
The low-cost airline said that international travel was likely to surge in the last quarter, and is giving international tourism a strong push in this year's final three months with increased forward bookings until December when Filipinos are expected to spend their holidays abroad.
The airline said that as of Monday, October 2, Taipei, Incheon, Osaka, Narita, Hong Kong, and Bangkok remain the top destinations for Filipinos with over 300,000 seats sold for travel in the next 90 days.
"AirAsia Philippines continues to herald the return of international tourism through affordable and convenient flight. In fact, we see our performance on international flights increasing to half a million seats sold before the end of December 2023 which further underscores that more and more travelers are now making the choice of flying with the World's Best Low-Cost Airline.
"We hope to flourish in the APAC next year as we open more detinations following the increase in aircraft fleet," AirAsia Philippines Communications and Public Affairs Country head Steve Dailisan said.
AirAsia Philippines has a total count of 21 Airbus A320 aircraft, which some are undergoing maintenance and conditions before returning to service.
The airline has opened the month of October with its Manila to Bangkok, Hong Kong, Taipei, Seoul, Tokyo and Macao flights commencing daily from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3. Manila to Guangzhou and Shenzhen on the other hand, continue to fly out of NAIA T3 four times weekly while flights to Kota Kinabalu, Kaohsiung, and Shanghai continue to depart and arrive three times weekly.
Aside from increasing the frequency of flights from the NAIA Terminal 3, the low-cost carrier also plans to open additional routes to Japan and China via the Clark International Airport, Mactan-Cebu International Airport, and Kalibo International Airport.
To entice more Filipinos to pursue their international travel goals, AirAsia Philippines "is offering its Winter Deals for booking from 2 to 8 October for travels from 2 October 2023 to 30 April 2024. Winter Deals offer a one-way base fare of P800 to P4,590 depending on the destinations."
Meanwhile, the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) has set the fuel surcharge for the month of October at Level 6 which translates to additional fees from P610.37 to P844.16 per one-way trip per passenger for APAC destinations.
AirAsia Philippines sees this having less of an impact on airfare as ongoing promos such as the Winter Deals are expected to cushion the effect of the surcharge.
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