Last year Asian Spirit had an average of 63 percent load factor followed by Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific at 59 percent. Air Philippines registered an average of 49 percent load factor placing it in fourth place.
The airline’s performance was not a mean feat as it is the only scheduled airline that operates turbo-prop aircraft and focuses on the secondary and tertiary airports.
"Those considered missionary routes or the unprofitable routes are now becoming profitable destinations as the number of commuters and local tourists steadily increase over the years and as long as operating costs are controlled," explained Butch Rodriguez, vice president for sales and marketing of Asian Spirit. "Moreover, Filipinos are now getting used to taking the smaller aircraft after experiencing of getting to their destinations in half the time compared to the other airlines," Rodriguez added.
The airline’s performance is also bolstered by its dominance of the Manila-Caticlan market where it registered an average load factor of 78 percent compared to PAL at 52 percent, Cebu Pacific at 47 percent and Air Philippines at 39 percent (the other airlines operating between Manila and Kalibo).
"While it is true that Asian Spirit has smaller capacities compared to the big three, the boarded passenger statistics show that Asian Spirit had 119,355 passengers compared to PAL’s 127,074 or roughly 7,700 difference. Air Philippines had 56,155 boarded passengers while Cebu Pacific had 53,434," Rodriguez said.
"We still anticipate further increase in travelers to this area that is why we have expanded our flight frequency to 10 flights per day beginning October," he said as he disclosed the timely arrival of two more aircraft, the 50-seater De Havilland-7 and the new Let410.
Asian Spirit is also set to start operating its flights to Northern Luzon particularly in Basco, Batanes in December this year.
Plans are afoot to fly to nearby areas as well as expand its Visayan/Mindanao destinations to include Dipolog and direct flights to Surigao from Manila.