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A tourism boom is taking place. The
Philippines will receive between 3.2 million and 3.5 million
visitors this year. That will be the highest on record. In 2006 the
country could have attracted 3 million tourists, but there were not
enough hotel rooms to accommodate them.
Philippine
carriers are all refleeting, expanding at an unprecedented rate and
making them among the youngest in the world in terms of age of their
planes.
Philippine
Airlines is buying six Boeing 777-300 on top of 20 Airbuses it had
previously ordered to bring its fleet to 42 from the present 32 (the
old planes will be replaced) by 2012.
Cebu Pacific
plans to acquire 20 more planes, a firm order for 10 Airbus A320
planes for delivery in 2010 to 2012, plus options for another 10 for
delivery between 2011 and 2013.
The cost of the
planes at list prices: $1.3 billion. The acquisition will increase
Cebu Air’s fleet to 32 from 14 currently in operation. The company
built the low-cost carrier industry in the Philippines.
From zero in 1995
when it started, Cebu Pacific claims to have grabbed 44 percent of
the domestic passenger market, making it No. 1, the John Gokongwei
carrier claims. It will have 5 million passengers this year.
That’s a stunning achievement and it’s a tribute to the
entrepreneurial gung-ho of Cebu Pacific President and CEO Lance
Gokongwei, John’s double summa (at UPenn) genius son.
Meanwhile, Asian
Spirit is buying five British Aerospace 146 planes with seating
capacity of 80 to 100 within the next 18 months at a cost of $100
million. The new aircraft will enable Asian Spirit to fly to Inchon,
South Korea, from its lucrative Kalibo (Boracay) market, Macau,
Kaoshiung and Sandakan, Malaysia.
And domestic
carrier specialist, Southeast Asian Airways (SEAIR), is leasing two
Airbus A320. The airline, which began in 1995 with just P2 million
in capital, never had such big planes before. It has tied up with
Tiger Airways which is majority owned by the Singapore government.
SEAIR will double its seating capacity and hopefully its passenger
volume beginning this year.
“The travel
industry is booming,” beams Noel Ońate, chairman of the Asian
Spirit Cooperative which owns the Asian Spirit airline. Major
markets like China, India, Russia and Korea are doing well
economically, he notes. Visitors, he adds, “see the Philippines as
a cheap destination. It has, moreover, the advantage of being
English-speaking.”
“The aviation
industry in the country is on a growth track today. That’s why all
carriers are refleeting, from PAL to Asian Spirit. Everybody wants
to be on track with this growth stage of the industry,” agrees
President Avelino Zapanta who was brought into SEAIR last December
to help professionalize its management.
Travel began to
take off after the depression, recalls Zapanta. “It’s a global
phenomenon. The market has expanded substantially because of the
low-cost carriers which have opened up new markets for first time
air travelers.” These people, he notes, used to take the boat and
the bus. Now, they are flying.”
The lease of two
Airbus A320, relates Zapanta, “just the beginning of a meaningful
expansion. About 70 percent of SeaAir’s passengers are foreign
tourists, he reckons. Demand is coming from South Korea, today the
biggest source of foreign tourists to the Philippines, as well as
Europe and the United States.
Tourists from
these places want enjoy the country’s fine beaches. That’s where
SeaAir comes in. “We happen to be serving mostly the major resort
destinations. We operate, for instance, the most number of
destinations to Palawan.
Thousands of
Koreans are flying to the Philippines to learn English. “They have
discovered this is the best place to study English,” says the
SEAIR president.
There is, of
course, China with its 1.3 billion people. Up to 3 million Chinese
are traveling right now, Zapanta says.
The boom in
tourism is expected to last for at least four more years, predicts
Zapanta.
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