Story ID: 
Philippines AirAsia on a Roll
By: William Dennis
Caption: The low-cost carrier sees opportunity in what it characterizes as an underserved market.
Word Count: 354
Philippines AirAsia (PAA) is embarking on an ambitious network and fleet-expansion exercise. Starting April 22, the low-cost carrier will introduce daily Manila-Bangkok service, followed by Cebu-Shenzhen. The latter will be the airline's third mainland Chinese destination, behind Guangzhou and Shanghai. In the fourth quarter it will add Manila-Osaka. All flights are operated by Airbus A320-200s.

According to PAA CEO Dexter Comendador, the frequency and launch date is being finalized with the respective regulators.

Comendador told AIN  that apart from evaluating opportunities to expand its network in the region, the airline is looking into penetrating the Chinese market further with interest in secondary routes, as China offers tremendous potential for growth.

PAA currently has a network of 11 domestic and 13 international destinations, and the company has plans to expand those and build its fleet, which currently numbers 20 A320-200s, to 70 by 2028.

On the domestic front, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport-based airline opened 13 new routes last year. Its objective is to build and grow hubs at Clark, Francisco Bangoy (Davao), New Bohol, Puerto Princesa (Palawan), and Mactan Cebu international airports.

“We will continue to drive inter-ASEAN [a 10-nation-block comprising the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos, and Brunei] connectivity by also opening access to secondary hubs in the Philippines,” Comendador noted.

The Philippines, with its population of 100 million, remains an under-served market, Comendador believes.

PAA sees these moves as an opportunity to open access to lesser-known destinations in the Philippines and connect them to ASEAN and North Asia destinations and beyond.

PAA’s plan to go public later this year may be deferred should the government go ahead with its decision to close Boracay, the Philippines’ top destination for six months, to address environmental issues.

PAA started operations in 2010 as Air Asia Zest. As the Philippines constitution does not permit 100 percent foreign ownership of locally registered businesses, Malaysian investor Tony Fernandes entered into a 40/60 partnership with three Filipino business people, Antonio Cojuangco, Michael Romero, and Marianne Hontiveros, to form PAA in January 2016.