Airbus sees signs of gradual recovery in PHL market
By Arjay L. Balinbin, Senior Reporter
EUROPEAN aerospace company Airbus SE said it is seeing signs of gradual recovery in the Philippines, helping boost demand for new aircraft in the Asia-Pacific region.
“In February, the Philippines reopened its borders to fully vaccinated travelers. We are encouraged that more countries are easing restrictions, which will contribute to air travel recovery in the region,” Airbus Asia-Pacific President Anand Stanley told BusinessWorld in an e-mailed reply to questions last week.
“Airbus is seeing a gradual recovery in the air transport market in Asia-Pacific, with several governments moving to ease border and quarantine measures,” he noted. “The pent-up demand is there, but it is still being restrained by complex and uncoordinated protocols.”
Starting Feb. 10, Philippine borders were opened to fully vaccinated travelers from countries whose citizens enjoy 30-day visa-free entry privileges.
Airlines are also allowed to operate at full capacity in the capital region and 38 other areas placed under the Alert Level 1 status of the lockdown. But public travels between an area with a higher alert level classification and an area under Alert Level 1 will be limited to the capacity of the area at higher risk.
The Transportation department has said the country’s main gateway, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, is ready to increase its passenger arrival cap to 10,000 from 5,000 in anticipation of the influx of arriving passengers.
“There is a tremendous appetite for people to fly again, reconnect with families and friends, and to restart business,” Mr. Stanley said.
Airbus sees a 5.3% passenger traffic growth per year in the Asia-Pacific region, translating into a need for 17,620 passenger and freighter aircraft.
“Of the demand for 17,620 aircraft, 13,660 are in the small category like the A220 and A320 Family. In the medium and long-range categories, Asia-Pacific will continue to drive demand with some 42% of global requirement. This translates to 2,470 medium and 1,490 large category aircraft,” the company said in a statement posted on its website.
Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) has said that it is working with Airbus to modify 15 of its aircraft to accommodate more passengers.
Airbus will add more seats to PAL’s 11 A320 aircraft, two A330-300s, and two A350-900s. PAL’s A320 planes will have 24 extra seats, bringing the total seat count to 180. This configuration “suits the airline’s requirements for short-haul inter-island domestic routes,” the flag carrier said.
