BY DARWIN G. AMOJELAR SENIOR REPORTER

PHILIPPINE domestic air travel grew by nearly a third in the first nine months of the year because of the carriers’ promotional offerings, according to the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB).

Data from CAB showed that domestic air passengers rose by 29.5 percent to 11.09 million at end-September compared with the 8.57 million in the same period last year.

The industry’s load factor—the number of seats occupied during a flight—went up to 78.6 percent from the 77 percent in the same period in 2008.

The total number of seats of the five domestic airlines reached 14.11 million over last year’s 11.07 million.
Earlier, Porvenir Porciuncula, CAB deputy executive director and head of economic planning said domestic air travel this year is likely grow between 10 percent and 12 percent because of promos.

”These promotional offerings help stimulate demand,” he said.

Cebu Pacific remained the leading domestic airline at end-September, having carried more passengers at 5.3 million, up 35.9 percent from 3.9 million last year.

The Gokongwei-owned carrier’s load factor rose to 81 percent, higher than last year’s 78 percent.

Rival Philippine Airlines (PAL) flew 4.6 million passengers from 3.4 million last year.

The Lucio Tan-owned airline had a load factor of 78 percent, the same as in the first half last year.

Passengers carried by Air Philippines dropped 59 percent to 320,651 from last year’s 781,437.

Southeast Asian Airlines (SEAIR) also recorded a decline in passengers flown at 127,600 from last year’s 175,842.

Zest Airways’ passenger count jumped 179 percent to 859,544 passengers from last year’s 308,035 passengers.

CAB data also showed that air cargo dropped 1 percent to 100.4 million kilograms from 101.4 million in the same nine-month period last year.

Of the total, PAL carried 44.6 million kilograms; Air Phil., 805,913; Cebu Pacific, 52.3 million; SEAIR, 268,902; and Pacific East Asia Cargo, 2.6 million.