Airphil Express sees hike in local market share to 25% by yearend

MANILA, Philippines - Lucio Tan-owned Airphil Express is projecting an increase in its domestic market share this year to 25 percent from 19 percent last year.

From 1.5 million passengers carried last year, Airphil is expecting this to increase to four million in 2011 as the carrier embarks on a major move to offer domestic and Southeast Asian routes from its just announced second hub in Clark.

Airphil is set to extend its operation base to Pampanga with the signing of a contract with the Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) which operates the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA).

Airphil senior vice president for marketing and sales Alfredo Herrera said this is all in line with their expansion process and consistent with their growth strategy to solidify their position as a key player in the local budget airline market.

With seven Airbus A320s, three Q300s and five Q400 under its wing, the company is increasing its fleet size with the acquisition of two more brand new A320s arriving before yearend and for more next year.

“As end-April this year. Our market share is already at 23 percent. We expect to end the year with 25 percent. Our objective is to be a strong number two,” Herrera said.

For the first half of 2011, he revealed that Airphil had better top and bottom line numbers compared to the same period last year. “Our revenues were better than target but our bottom line was lower than expectation due to higher fuel prices,” Herrera explained.

For his part, CIAC president and CEO Victor Jose Luciano said that with the Clark airport having a catchment population of 25 million from both Central and Northern Luzon, they are developing Clark as part of a twin airport system to complement the Manila airports especially now that NAIA is becoming full and congested. “We are preparing to make Clark in three to five years’ time an international gateway. This partnership between CIAC and Airphil is a big boost to this,” he added.

With more aircraft acquisitions recently, Airphil has been able to expand routes and has commenced its Manila-Tacloban flight and Cebu-Hong kong flight. It will soon launch its Manila-Ozamiz and Davao-Iloilo routes.

Currently, Airphil flies to 25 domestic and two international destinations along with selected domestic flights originating from Davao and Zamboanga.