CAPA SUMMIT. Centre for Asia-Pacific Aviation (CAPA) chairman emeritus Peter Harbison (left), Tourism Undersecretary Benito Bengzon (center), and Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority general manager Steve Dicdican spend time with the media during the opening of the CAPA Low-Cost Carriers (LCC) in North Asia Summit at Radisson Blu Hotel in Cebu on Monday, June 24, 2019. Harbison says LCCs are vital contributors to the increase of tourist arrivals in the Philippines, accounting for 41.9 percent of the international seat capacity. (Photo by Luel Galarpe)
CEBU CITY -- The volume of passengers in the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) increased by 13 percent in 2018, said an airport official on Monday here.
“The MCIA has grown by leaps and bounds in the past few years. From having under 7 million passengers per annum in 2014, we had over 11.3 million passengers pass through our gateway in 2018,” said Steve Dicdican, Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA) general manager and chief executive officer, in a press conference during the Center for Asia-Pacific Aviation (CAPA) Low-Cost Carriers (LCC) in North Asia Summit at Radisson Blu Hotel.
“This is a growth rate of more than 13 percent year-on-year. It is significant to note that, during this period, we have more than doubled our number of international passengers,” he added.
The consistent growth and performance of MCIA have not gone unnoticed in the world stage as the airport was recognized by CAPA as the Regional Airport of the Year in 2016 and Medium Airport of the Year in 2018.
Dicdican said these recognitions are validations of their efforts and investments over the years to expand and modernize the MCIA.
Meanwhile, CAPA chairman emeritus Peter Harbison said the annual LCC in North Asia Summit has cemented itself as the premier event in the aviation industry, attracting the highest caliber of thought leaders and decision makers in the LCC sector.
Harbison said LCCs are vital contributors to the increase of tourist arrivals in the country, accounting for 41.9 percent of the international seat capacity.
“Visitor arrivals to the Philippines have increased three-fold in the last decade to a total of 2.2 million and we are pleased to be attracting even more visitors as we host this year’s event in Cebu with the support of the Department of Tourism, MCIAA, and Cebu Pacific Air,” he added.
As more flights from North Asia to the Philippines are expected to be mounted after this summit, Tourism Undersecretary Benito Bengzon said there is a strong demand to expand the passenger capacity of airports outside Manila.
“The current inflow of air passengers to our gateways is many of them exceed the capacity. So it becomes incumbent upon us, the stakeholders in the tourism and aviation industries, to find means and ways of expanding capacity,” Bengzon said.
Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines director general, Capt. Jim Sydiongco, on the other hand, said he also expects the LCCs in North Asia to open more flights to the country with the government building new airports and improving facilities in existing ones.
Sydiongco delivered the keynote address during the opening program of the first-ever CAPA Low-Cost Carriers in North Asia Summit to be held in the Philippines.
Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat was also on hand to welcome the delegates. (PNA)
