Tag Archives: AirAsia (Philippines)

AirAsia Philippines welcomes strong summer demand

AirAsia Philippines is gearing up for a stronger travel demand this summer as the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) placed Metro Manila and 38 other provinces, mostly AirAsia destinations, under Alert Level 1 beginning today until March 15, 2022.

Intrazonal and interzonal travel is allowed under Alert Level 1 for all public transport including airlines which will be at 100% capacity. This is expected to entice more people to travel, especially that all AirAsia destinations are now accepting vaccination cards for fully inoculated travelers. Partially vaccinated guests will also be accepted but subject to LGU travel requirements such as Antigen tests.

But even before the lowering of the alert level, AirAsia Philippines has already recorded a whopping 145,978 seats sold for travels from March 1 to 31, 2022 alone. This is an increase of 131% from the same month of 2021.

AirAsia Philippines Spokesperson Steve Dailisan said, “AirAsia Philippines attributes this significant increase to revenge traveling with relaxed travel protocols being implemented in most of its destinations. In fact, we are looking forward to sustaining full capacity in time for the various festivities in the different provinces we fly to. Our contribution to our LGU destinations moving forward is to bring as many guests as much as we can with strict adherence to standard health and safety protocols.”

The Malay-Boracay Tourism Office meanwhile recorded 47,500 local and foreign tourist arrivals in the island for the month of February alone. The Bohol Tourism Office also reported the same buoyancy as it recorded 4,196 tourist arrivals in January. Puerto Princesa Tourism Office on the other hand recorded 1,158 tourist arrivals from December 2021 to February 2022.

Seeing the impending influx of travelers, guests may take advantage of AirAsia Philippines’ 3.3 Summer Blowout and purchase from as low as P233 one-way base fare for popular destinations such as Boracay, Cebu, Bohol, Puerto Princesa, Davao and Cagayan De Oro.

AirAsia Philippines increased its flight frequency for the month of March. Flights to popular summer destinations like Caticlan have been increased from 18x weekly to 34x weekly; Kalibo which is another gateway to Boracay, from 7 x weekly to 11 x weekly; Cebu from 14 x weekly to 21 x weekly; Tagbilaran (Panglao) from 7 x weekly to 14 x weekly; Puerto Princesa from 7 x weekly to 14 x weekly. Flight frequency to other destinations such as Bacolod was also increased from 7 x weekly to 14 x weekly; Iloilo from 7 x weekly to 14 x weekly; Tacloban from 21 x weekly to 23 x weekly; and Cagayan from 7 x weekly to 9 x weekly.

AirAsia Philippines to fly only vaccinated passengers or those with those with signed medical certificates

AirAsia Philippines made this announcement:

AirAsia Philippines will abide by and implement the Department Order 2022-001 issued by the Department of Transportation on January 11, 2022 setting new transportation guidelines for fully vaccinated and non-vaccinated guests.

“From the onset of the pandemic, AirAsia has always been working closely with the IATF, DOTr and its attached agencies along with medical experts in the implementation of multi-layered approaches to safety in the aviation sector,” said Ricky Isla, AirAsia Philippines CEO

Beginning January 17, 2022, the world’s best low-cost airline will continue to fly fully vaccinated guests from its Manila hub, compliant with the latest travel guidelines set by the respective Local Government Units (LGUs) of their destination.

Meanwhile, non-vaccinated guests with essential purpose of travel from Metro Manila such as persons with medical conditions that prevent full COVID-19 vaccination will still be allowed to fly, provided that they present a duly signed medical certificate with name and contact details of their physician. Likewise, persons who will provide essential goods and services as evidenced by a duly issued barangay health pass or other appropriate proof that will justify travel will also be accepted during the flight.

Isla added, “AirAsia Philippines considers this initiative from the DOTr as an effective tool to encourage every Filipino to take the shot, and get an added layer of protection against any emerging COVID-19 variant.”

AirAsia Zest Airbus A320 overshoots the runway at Kalibo, Philippines

AirAsia Zest (AirAsia Philippines) (formerly Zest Air) (Manila), another associated airline of the AirAsia Group (Malaysia) (Kuala Lumpur), today (December 30) was involved in an incident in the Philippines while the world attention focuses on the crash of an AirAsia Indonesia Airbus A320. An AirAsia Zest Airbus A320-216, registered as RP-C8972 (msn 2826), today overshot the runway on landing at Kalibo on the island of Panay in the Philippines. Flight Z2 272 was operating from Manila to Kalibo with 159 passengers and crew members on board. There were no reported injuries.

Twitter photo by Jet Damazo-Santos.

Grounded Zest Air is now AirAsia Zest following an investment by AirAsia

Zest Air (Zest Airways) (Manila) has rebranded as AirAsia Zest (AirAsia Zest Airways, Inc., formerly Asian Spirit) following the investment of AirAsia (Malaysia) (Kuala Lumpur) through AirAsia Philippines (Clark).

In other related news, AirAsia Philippines will be temporarily suspending flights to Davao, Kalibo, Taipei and Hong Kong from Clark International Airport effective on October 9, 2013.

Flights between Clark and Hong Kong, however, will continue to operate from December 20, 2013 until January 6, 2014 to cater to the strong holiday demand.

Maan Hontiveros, Chief Executive Officer of AirAsia Philippines said, “The temporary suspension is primarily to manage costs following the recent grounding of Zest Air by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP). This has affected many factors and allocating necessary resources such as aircraft and crew is critical to ensure its recovery.”

“Right now we need to focus our resources to support Zest Air where we have significant economic interest, and we believe in Zest Air’s potential with their Manila based operations,” added Hontiveros.

AirAsia Philippines holds a 49 percent share in Zest Air, a low-cost carrier operating in Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), Manila; and Zest Air will be carrying the AirAsia brand once it is approved by the CAAP.

Read the full story from Business World Online: CLICK HERE

Zest Air:

All images by AirAsia Zest.

AirAsia Philippines acquires 40% of the stock of Zest Air in a stock trade

AirAsia Philippines (Angeles City, Pampanga-Clark International Airport) has agreed to acquire all of the shares Zest’s affiliate Asiawide Airways from Alfredo Yao, vice chairman of Export and Industry Bank Inc. and the Zest-O Corporation. This acquisition will give AirAsia 40 percent of the shares of Zest Air (Zest Airways) (Manila). In return, Yao will get a 15 percent share in closely held AirAsia (Kuala Lumpur) according to this report by Bloomberg.Each airline, both former competitors, will now operate separately but will be aligned with each other.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Top Copyright Photo: Terry Wade. AirAsia’s (AirAsia.com) (Philippines) Airbus A320-216 RP-C8191 (msn 4989) is seen at London (Gatwick) prior to the delivery.

AirAsia:

Zest Air:

Middle Copyright Photo Below: AirAsia. AirAsia and Zest Air officials celebrate the new association.

Bottom Copyright Photo: Manuel Negrerie. Zest Air’s (Zest Airways) Airbus A320-232 RP-C8994 (msn 743) climbs away from Taipei (TPE).

AirAsia Philippines to start operations on March 28

AirAsia Philippines (Manila-Clark) received its AOC on February 8, 2015 and will now start operations on March 26, 2012 on the Clark-Davao domestic route along with service to Kalibo (near Boracay). The initial fleet will be two Airbus A320s.

Read the full report from the Business Mirror: CLICK HERE

AirAsia Philippines receives its AOC, plans to start operations next month

AirAsia (AirAsia.com) (Philippines) Airbus A320-216 RP-C8191 (msn 4989) LGW (Terry Wade) (new airline), originally uploaded by Airliners Gallery.

AirAsia Philippines (Manila-Clark) received its AOC on February 8, 2015 and intends to start operations on March 15, 2012 on the Clark-Davao domestic route along with service to Kalibo (near Boracay) and Puerto Princesa (Palawan) also starting in March 2012. International destinations of Singapore, Hong Kong and Macau are planned. The second group of international destinations is expected to be Bangkok, Seoul (Incheon). The carrier expects to lease around 14-16 Airbus A320s.

Read the full report from TTG Asia: CLICK HERE

AirAsia Philippines awaits its AOC in order to start operations

AirAsia (AirAsia.com) (Philippines) Airbus A320-216 RP-C8191 (msn 4989) LGW (Terry Wade) (new airline), originally uploaded by Airliners Gallery.

AirAsia Philippines (Manila-Clark-Diosdado Macapagal International Airport) is taking delivery of its new Airbus A320s. The new AirAsia carrier is currently going through the Air Operators Certificate (AOC) process. The carrier intends to start low-fare operations shortly from Clark (near Manila) once the AOC is received.

AirAsia currently only has two routes to Clark:

AirAsia Philippines takes delivery of its first Airbus A320

AirAsia Philippines (Manila-Clark-Diosdado Macapagal International Airport) on August 13 received its first Airbus A320 (A320-216 RP-C8189, msn 4797). The first aircraft arrived at Clark two days later.

The new airline is a joint venture between Filipino investors and AirAsia International Ltd, a subsidiary of AirAsia of Malaysia. The Filipino group includes Antonio Conjuangco, Jr., former owner of Associated Broadcasting Company with flagship television station TV5, Micheal Romero, a real estate developer and port operator, and Marianne Hontiveros.

AirAsia Philippines is the fourth member of AirAsia Group, which now includes AirAsia (Malaysia), AirAsia Thailand and AirAsia Indonesia.

AirAsia Philippines is awaiting its AOC in order to start operating. The airline plans to use the first A320 to fly to Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong. The second A320 is due later this year and will fly to Bangkok, Seoul (Incheon), Kalibo (near Boracay, Philippines) and Puerto Princesa (Palawan, Philippines).

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AirAsia (Philippines) selects Clark as its hub

AirAsia Incorporated, the Philippine-based affiliate of AirAsia Group, has chosen Clark as its hub in the country.

The airline, which was established in December 2010, will be basing its operations at Clark’s Diosdado Macapagal International Airport. The airline plans to start operating international flights from the airport in the fourth quarter of this year.

Clark is strategically located just north of Manila and is easily accessible to 23 million people from the National Capital Region and Central and Northern Luzon. It is also where the airline’s sister company, Malaysia-based AirAsia Berhad, has been flying to from Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu since 2005.

Hontiveros, Antonio O. Cojuangco Jr. and Michael L. Romero own 60% of AirAsia, Inc. in equal partnership. The remaining 40% is owned by AirAsia Berhad.

With the announcement, Clark will become the 13^th regional hub of the ASEAN-based AirAsia Group, which currently includes AirAsia, Inc., AirAsia Berhad, AirAsia Thailand and AirAsia Indonesia. The group’s 12 current hubs are Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching and Penang in Malaysia; Bangkok, Phuket and Chiang Mai in Thailand; and Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya, Medan and Bali in Indonesia.

The opening of AirAsia, Inc. is seen as a vote of confidence in the country’s growing economy and as a big boost to the archipelago’s airline and tourism industries. It will leverage on the strength of AirAsia Group, which leads the low-cost airline industry in Asia. The group has over 60 destinations in all 10 ASEAN countries, China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Australia. Through the group’s low-cost long-haul affiliate AirAsia X, its guests are able to fly to more destinations in Australia, New Zealand, China, Taiwan, India, Iran, Korea, Japan, France and the UK. AirAsia Group has a young fleet of approximately 90 Airbus A320 aircraft, while AirAsia X has a fleet of 11 Airbus A330 and A340 aircraft.