Airphil Express posts high passenger growth

MANILA, Philippines - Airphil Express (APX) remained the best performing budget airline in the country in 2011 after posting the highest growth in both passenger and cargo in the first nine months of this year.

Latest data from the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) noted that APX’s passenger volume soared by 143 percent or 1.6 million passengers to reach 2.72 million in the first nine months of this year compared to 1.12 million in the same period last year. Total passenger volume also rose by 14 percent (1.75 million) to reach 14.03 million from January to September this year.

Alfredo Herrera, senior vice president for marketing and sales of Airphil Express, expressed elation over this new development noting that APX is lucky to have been blessed with the good fortune of becoming a major recipient of a huge chunk of the industry’s growth spurt in terms of passenger growth.

Now already with eight Airbus A320, three Q300s and five Q400 under its wing, the company is set to beef up its operations further by bringing in more aircrafts. A new A320 Airbus, in fact, has just arrived in Manila last Nov. 18 and more than half a dozen aircrafts are expected to arrive starting December until early next year. To better serve its customers, Airphil Express has also expanded its routes and is now serving 26 local destinations and two international flights.

Some of its most recently inaugurated local destinations include Manila-Tacloban (v.v.), Manila-Ozamiz (v.v.), Davao-Iloilo (v.v.), Manila-Cotabato (v.v.), and the Manila-General Santos (v.v.) routes. Aside from the Manila-Singapore route, Airphil Express now also offers the Cebu-Hong Kong flight, which it opened just a few months ago.

“We believe this continued expansion and growth of the company is due to the genuine value-added features and services we have been offering to the flying public since the company’s inception in 2010. Since then, we have upped the ante by introducing one of the youngest and most reliable fleets in the region originating not just from Manila but also from other key cities across the country. We also pioneered a number of other innovative services such as the creation of a dedicated, 24/7 customer service touchpoint using social media tools like Twitter and Facebook.”

Recognizing the growth in social media as an exciting chance to expand customer service reach, APX has launched a social networking presence on Twitter and Facebook in March this year as a means to operationalize its customer-oriented policy not just during flights but also in the crucial before-and-after sales. Airphil Express also started and became the first budget airline to offer the 20 percent student discount on all published fares for its domestic routes, including select promotional fares. Yet another innovation is the company’s ongoing APX Rewards program, a free flight program that allows a customer to exchange 10 used boarding passes bearing his/her name for a one-way, free ticket to any local destination of his/her choice.

Today, traveling on Airphil Express is as comfortable and safe as ever with its young and reliable fleet of Airbus A320, Q300 and Q400 aircrafts. Aside from the company’s eagerly anticipated airfare discounts and travel promotions, Airphil Express also introduced a number of innovative marketing strategies that has since helped redefine the way budget carriers are being managed today.

In just after a year, it has since helped institute value-for-money features and services such as the web check-in, seat selector, travel insurance and pre-paid baggage. The company is also the only airline that allows for as much as 15 kilos of free check-in baggage allowance, not to mention an additional 7 kilos of free hand-carry luggage. To know more about the latest travel promotions and services of Airphil Express, check out www.airphilexpress.com.