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By Darwin G. Amojelar,
Reporter
DOMESTIC air travel will likely
slow down this year owing to higher consumer prices and costlier jet
fuel, the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) said.
Porvenir Porciuncula, CAB deputy
executive director and head of economic planning said domestic
travel is projected to grow by 15 percent this year, down from 22.7
percent last year.
“We expect slower growth this
year especially that the price of basic commodities are
higher,” Porciuncula said,
adding that rising prices could take the itch out of Filipinos’
travel bug.
Last month, the inflation rate
accelerated to a 20-month high of 6.4 percent, shooting past the
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) forecast of between 5.3 percent
and 5.9 percent.
Data from CAB showed the number
of domestic passengers rose to 10.38 million last year from 8.46
million in 2006.
The country’s five major
carriers’ seat capacity jumped 14.6 percent to 13.33 million from
11.61 million the previous year. Domestic load factor, which
measures the number of seats occupied during a flight, averaged 78
percent, higher than the 73 percent in 2006.
Porciuncula attributed the
industry’s higher growth last year to the intense competition
among airline companies, lower inflation, and a strong domestic
economy.
The CAB official also said
international passenger traffic growth is projected to slide to 6
percent this year from 10 percent last year owing to the expected
global economic slowdown.
Despite the U-led slowdown,
international passenger traffic would grow due to higher demand in
the region, particularly in China.
CAB data showed that
international passenger traffic rose 10.85 percent to 11.23 million
last year compared with 10.13 million passengers in 2006.
Of the total, incoming passengers
went up 11.72 percent to 5.43 million, while outgoing passengers
stood at 5.80 million, 10.26 percent higher than the previous year.
The country’s flag carrier
Philippine Airlines registered the highest number of international
passengers, while Cebu Pacific had 1.02 million passengers.
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