PANGLAO, BOHOL—Following the recent opening of Bohol-Panglao International Airport (BPIA), AirAsia Philippines bared its plan to increase next year its domestic flights and open international routes to and from this latest aviation facility in the Visayas region.
“For the year, whatever flights we have in the Tagbilaran Airport will be transferred here [at BPIA],” AirAsia Philippines’s CEO Captain Dexter Comendador told reporters in mixed Filipino and English during an interview prior to the airport’s official inauguration led by no less than President Duterte and other government officials.
Currently, the budget carrier offers daily three flights back and forth Manila and Panglao. Each plane has a capacity of 180 seats.
“We can do it up to five times,” the top executive said, while citing that it depends on the capability of the island to absorb tourists, local and international,” he added.
AirAsia Philippines also seeks to offer in 2019 at least two international routes back and forth the country’s first eco-airport, according to him.
“Most probably, it will be Taipei and Macau,” Comendador noted since air travel here, to or from these two Asian destinations takes around “one-and-a-half” or “two hours.”
He, likewise, bared their future expansion to serve more destinations in Asia, including China, Korea and Japan.
Dubbed the “Green Gateway to the World,” BPIA will replace the Tagbilaran Airport that was placed under preventive maintenance, repair and patching work because of degradation brought about by continuing rain.
This P8.9-billion airport boasts of green and sustainable structures, including solar panels and motion sensor lighting, among other features. It can accommodate seven aircraft at one time
The newly built aviation facility seats in a 220-hectare site on Panglao Island—10 times bigger than the old airport with a 22-hectare land area only.
It can hold up to 650 passengers during peak hours, and is expected to accommodate over two million passengers in first year of operation.
Given the topnotch facilities of BPIA, Comendador revealed that they want to base one plane here to make it another secondary hub of AirAsia Philippines.
“Meaning, we will station a pilot, cabin crew and a mechanic,” he said of their plan as a follow suit to what they did in Clark, Cebu and Kalibo airports.
AirAsia Philippines is a wholly owned subsidiary of AirAsia Philippines Inc., a joint venture between Filipino investors Antonio O. Cojuangco, former Ambassador Alfredo M. Yao, Michael L. Romero, Marianne B. Hontiveros and Malaysia’s AirAsia Group Berhad.
The airline began its commercial operations in 2012 in Clark, Pampanga and has since expanded to include hubs in Manila, Cebu, Clark and Kalibo.
Currently, it operates a fleet of 20 aircraft with several flights to and from Manila, Cebu, Clark, Davao, Tacloban, Puerto Princesa, Iloilo, Tagbilaran (Bohol), Kalibo, Caticlan and Cagayan de Oro in the Philippines, with international flights from Manila, Cebu, Davao, Clark and Kalibo to Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu, Hong Kong, Macau, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Ho Chi Minh, Bali, Taipei, Kaohsiung, Singapore, Seoul/Incheon and Bangkok.