Philippines air travel to fully recover in 2025 – IATA

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is expected to climb back to pre-pandemic levels of air travel next year, lifted by the expansion of its international reach and upgrades to major airports.

Based on an analysis by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the Philippines is seen rebounding to its pre-pandemic high for air travel in 2025.

IATA area manager for Southeast Asia Yuli Thompson attributed the industry’s expected recovery to the steady rebound of international traffic and the multibillion-peso push for airport developments.

Initially, Thompson said the Philippines was supposed to breach 2019 numbers this year, but it is slow to regain its international volume. As of June, overseas travel from the country has covered 83 percent only of what it had during the same period in 2019.

In Southeast Asia, Indonesia and Vietnam have led the region in terms of international recovery, both at 98 percent. Singapore has retrieved 95 percent of its pre-pandemic level, while Malaysia and Thailand have both regained 91 percent.

IATA sees sustained expansion for Philippine aviation from 2025 onward, boosted by the P170.6-billion rehabilitation of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and the P735.63-billion buildup for the New Manila International Airport.

However, airlines are far from booking the level of income being gained elsewhere in the world, with profits estimated to reach just $2.2 billion in Asia Pacific this year.

At this rate, airlines operating in the region are profiting only $1.2 per passenger, nowhere near the global average of $6.1, as Asia Pacific struggles to grow at a quicker pace for various reasons, such as the air travel slowdown in China.

Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said the government would engage in air talks with several countries to improve the volume of seats available. These economies include some of the biggest markets for the Philippines such as  Australia, Thailand, United Kingdom and the US.

In July, Manila decided to expand air seats with Seoul to serve the travel demand between them. The agreement expanded by half the number of weekly seats that airlines may offer when flying between the Philippines and Incheon to 30,000, from 20,000.

“Through these air talks, we intend to open new international routes or add more flight frequency on existing routes to provide travelers the flexibility in going to more international destinations, while attracting drones of foreign tourists to explore the country,” Bautista said.

Recently, airlines are reaching new routes to widen overseas reach, such as flag carrier Philippine Airlines, which launched its maiden flight to Seattle yesterday.