10M passengers in H1

POPULARITY of domestic destinations in Visayas and Mindanao has increased the passenger rate of Cebu Pacific (CEB) during the first semester of this year.

In a statement Wednesday, the airline company said that it has catered to over 10 million passengers from January to June this year, 9 percent higher compared to the same period in 2015. On average, flights were 87 percent full from January to June, the airline firm said.

For June 2016 alone, the Cebu Pacific Air group flew 1.6 million passengers, up by 8 percent from the 1.5 million passengers flown in the same month in 2015.

"This upsurge in passenger volume was primarily driven by popular domestic destinations in Visayas and Mindanao such as Kalibo, Tacloban, Siargao, and Tagbilaran," CEB said.

CEB noted that key international short haul destinations including China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore also "fared well" during the first half of 2016.

"Passengers to and from Japan, in particular, spiked by 21 percent as a result of the launch of Cebu – Tokyo (Narita) in March 2015 and Manila – Fukuoka in December 2015," it said. (SDR/Sunnex)