Air traffic volume rises 20% in Q1

MANILA, Philippines - International air passenger traffic in the Philippines grew by more than 20 percent in the first quarter of the year from a year ago, according to the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB).

Data from the CAB showed international air passenger volume reached 5.34 million from January to March, up 28 percent from 4.18 million in the same period in 2014.

Of the total volume, domestic carriers accounted for 2.54 million, while 2.80 million passengers were carried by foreign airlines.

Flag carrier Philippine Airlines was the market leader among domestic airlines as it flew 1.46 million passengers in the first quarter.

Cebu Pacific came in second with 837,942 passengers.

Air Asia Zest placed third with 174,246 passengers.

Getting the fourth and fifth spots were PAL Express which had 39,206 passengers and Tiger Airways with 24,243 passengers.

Earlier, CAB reported the volume of domestic passengers reached 5.23 million in the first quarter of this year, a two percent increase from 5.14 million in the same period last year.

Total air passenger traffic as of end-March inched up 13 percent to 10.57 million this year from 9.32 million in the previous year.