Philippines AirAsia reopens Clark hub, ups frequencies

Philippines AirAsia (Z2, Manila Ninoy Aquino Int’l) reopened its Clark hub on January 2 with thrice-weekly flights to Caticlan, the airline announced.

This followed strong demand for travel following the Christmas holidays, which has seen the low-cost carrier laying on almost 41% more frequencies in January 2022 compared to before the pandemic. It also reported an average load factor of 91-95% during the holiday period.

“A lot of our guests are still taking last-minute travel opportunities after being side-lined by the recent typhoon. We expect an uptake in flights as people return to their homes following their holiday trips. For this reason, we are adding flights to some key destinations to address increasing demand,” explained spokesperson Steve Dailisan.

The AirAsia Group subsidiary, in a statement, said it had grown its domestic market share to 19%, climbing 3.5 points up from its 15.5% share in 2019. It also observed that domestic travel was gaining stronger momentum in the year-end quarter of 2021, mostly because of a low COVID-19 infection rate in the Philippines.

“In 2022, Philippines AirAsia has three main priorities: Cash availability and cash management to support recovery strategies en-route to profitability; sustainable cost management and rationalisation to operate commercial flights e.g. fuel, repairs and maintenance, airport charges, ground services, staff and staff-related costs, marketing and other operating costs; expansion of its domestic presence from 14 destinations (2021) to 18 (2022) and to grow regional routes by exploring opportunities in the Middle East, United States, and Australia,” the carrier said.

Starting January 1, 2022, the LCC increased its domestic flight frequencies as follows:

35x weekly to Caticlan;
28x weekly to Tacloban;
18x weekly to Cebu;
14x weekly to Davao;
11x weekly to Tagbilaran and Bacolod;
10x weekly to Iloilo;
9x weekly to Kalibo;
daily to Puerto Princesa and Cagayan de Oro Laguindingan;
4x weekly to Zamboanga; and
twice weekly to General Santos.
The airline in December resumed international flights following a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic. Its current international flight schedule – servicing mainly overseas Filipino workers and business travellers – includes:

1x weekly to Guangzhou, China (every Thursday);
1x weekly to Singapore Changi (every Saturday);
bi-weekly to Hong Kong Int’l (every other Sunday of the month); and
5x weekly to Kuala Lumpur Int’l, Malaysia, which is operated by AirAsia (AK, Kuala Lumpur Int’l).