AirAsia Philippines is looking into possibly mounting international direct flights to Boracay for foreign visitors as a way to decongest the Manila airport terminals.
During the recent Boracay Business Forum, AirAsia Philippines Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ricky Isla said the airline is "exploring the possibility of opening direct flights to Boracay to offer guests a convenient and seamless travel journey to the island."
"The profile of AirAsia travelers to Boracay consists of millennials and young professionals aged 30 to 39, followed by adults aged 50 and above who are seeking places to relax. Our records show that most of the guests come from countries like the United States, China, United Kingdom, South Korea, Japan, Germany, and Canada," said Isla.
Based on the booking offers on their website, international flights to Boracay often land in NAIA for layovers, followed by airline transfers to reach the Caticlan or Kalibo airports.
However, NAIA remains to experience congestion issues, as it has grown to serve 36.7 million passengers annually, which is beyond its 35 million capacity. The recent deal for the operations and maintenance (O&M) of the airport by the San Miguel Corporation (SMC) Consortium is expected to increase NAIA's capacity by around 40 percent.
Isla noted that having direct flights to Caticlan for foreign visitors may help ease the influx of people entering NAIA.
"It's crucial for airlines to make travel easy and accessible for our guests so that there's more opportunity to attract foreign tourists," he said.
For the first quarter of 2024, the Department of Tourism (DOT) has recorded over 1.2 million international tourist arrivals to the Philippines. Around 94.5 percent of them were foreigners and 5.51 percent were overseas Filipinos.
This figure is 23 percent higher than the 999,390 foreign arrivals recorded in the same period last year.