AirAsia Philippines is "highly optimistic" that more Filipinos will travel in 2022 and is expanding its domestic routes from 14 to 18 this year as well as its regional routes, exploring opportunities in the Middle East, United States and Australia.

"Domestic tourism will be one of the major pillars of economic recovery post-pandemic," the budget airline stated Tuesday night, Jan. 3.

However, passenger concerns will still be centered on safety, contactless customer touchpoints, affordability and leisure travel with tightly knit groups, like visiting families and friends.

Already, AirAsia Philippines gained 19 percent of the domestic passenger market in 2021, with a 95 percent load factor during the holidays and 88 percent overall.

Its domestic market share climbed 3.5 notches from its 15.5 percent share in 2019, before the pandemic.

In December, 2021, the low cost carrier also ranked as the third most popular airline in terms of flight bookings among AirAsia territories, following Malaysia and Thailand.

In 2022, AirAsia Philippines has three main priorities.

First is cash availability and cash management to support recovery strategies enroute to profitability.

Second is sustainable cost management and rationalization to operate commercial flights, such as fuel, repairs and maintenance, airport charges, ground services, staff and staff related costs, marketing and other operating costs.

Third is expanding its domestic and regional presence.

At present, AirAsia is closely monitoring the impact of the COVID-19 Omicron variant.

Nevertheless, the airline is confident about its multi-layered safety protocols, the 100 percent vaccination of its crew, the presence of High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters in its aircraft, and its shared culture of safety and vigilance.

The past year came with its own set of challenges – from new COVID-19 variants to stricter travel restrictions.

AirAsia managed by finding new revenue streams via chartered flights for passengers and cargo. It has mounted 619 chartered repatriation and sweeper flights and transported 50,000 stranded Filipinos.

The LCC likewise managed its budget and diversified offerings.

AirAsia also resumed its flight operations to Hong Kong, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, servicing Overseas Filipino Workers and business travelers.

Furthermore, the airline digitized multiple customer touchpoints and integrated several services in its Airasia Super App.

On the app, guests can now book their hotels and flights together in great value bundles through its SNAP feature. They can also do digital check-in at least 24 hours before their flight.

Soon, boarding will be more seamless through the Philippines’ first facial recognition system, FACES, which is set to be implemented in the first quarter of 2022, for employees and in the second quarter, for guests.

In addition, the low-cost airline broadened its digital payment channels – forging stronger partnerships with mobile wallets GCash and Paymaya.

Its e-wallet transactions grew to 13 percent of total business last year, quadrupling its 2019 number of three percent.

The AirAsia Group’s digital business has been recently valued at over $1 billion within two years, making it achieve digital Unicorn Status.

While the pandemic wreaked havoc on the aviation industry, the group transformed itself into one of the top three ASEAN tech unicorns.