Budget carriers enter into strategic alliance

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - Low cost carriers Philippines' Air Asia and Zest Airways announced today their partnership in their bid to expand their operations in the country.

Marianne Hontiveros, chief executive officer at Philippines' AirAsia, said the regional airline is targeting overseas Filipino workers an estimated 35 percent of whom reside in northern Philippines.

AirAsia is also keen on the Philippines' small and medium scale entrepreneur (SME) sector whose fast expanding business enterprises have increasingly allowed them to transport goods and travel by air.

Hontiveros also announced that the two companies plan a share swap transaction that would allow the regional airline to acquire 49 percent of the local budget carrier. The alliance will also allow Zest Air to own 15 percent of the regional airline.

"We're keeping both brand names. They will operate independent of one another," she said.

Air Asia ruled out the view that the market is already saturated and any more airlines would be too many for the local airline industry.

Hontiveros said Philippines' Air Asia is more concerned about how fast local authorities are able to implement their airport modernization and expansion plans for hubs like Clark and the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).