Airasia sold more seats in January
DESPITE the uptick in Covid-19 cases in January, Airasia Philippines managed to recoup 42 percent of its pre-covid flight operations, the main recovery metric for the budget carrier.
Airasia Philippines Spokesperson Steve Dailisan said the airline “recouped 42 percent” of its pre-covid flight frequency in January, recording a 200-percent year-on-year increase in seats sold buoyed by the 182-percent increase in capacity.
Caticlan, Cebu, and Tacloban dominated the top destinations for both leisure and essential travels, he added.
“We will continue to service our guests this 2022 with safe and timely flights. We, in the travel industry, also have our sights set on cautiously restoring our pre-pandemic flight frequency this year as we are positive the pandemic will take a turn for the better before end-2022,” Dailisan said.
Airasia Philippines has started to gradually increase its domestic f lights slated for February for Davao, Iloilo, Cagayan De Oro, Bacolod, Puerto Princesa, Panglao and Kalibo in preparation for a possible influx of travelers.
The carrier is also mounting hybrid and sweeper flights to serve returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWS) who needed to return to the provinces. Since the first half of January, Airasia Philippines was able to bring home 2,500 returning OFWS.
Dailisan added that Airasia Philippines is running on an on-time performance of 80 percent.
“We will continue to embrace changes and thrive towards postpandemic recovery in the first quarter of 2022. Our system in place is proven to work to our advantage and we will keep it that way to ensure that we will be able to service our guests in the coming months, bringing them home safe and sound.”
The airline implements strict compliance to health protocols for both passengers and crew. As of January 27, half of its staff has already received their booster shots for Covid-19.