DESPITE the scare brought about by the arrival in the Philippines of the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 disease, data from AirAsia Philippines showed that travel in the first quarter remained unaffected.
The same data showed that the uptick in COVID-19 cases in January has not affected domestic travel as the airline recouped 42 percent of its pre-COVID flight frequency this month.
AirAsia Philippines also showed a huge climb in capacity for the month of January 2022 compared to the same period last year, recording an increase of 182 percent, while seats sold also increased by 200 percent versus the same month in the previous year, and load factor also saw a 10-percent uptick.
In terms of destination choices for both leisure and essential travels, Caticlan, Cebu and Tacloban still remain to be the go-to choices.
The airline has also started to gradually expand its domestic flight coverage for February to include Davao, Iloilo, Cagayan De Oro, Bacolod, Puerto Princesa, Panglao and Kalibo in preparation for a possible influx of travelers.
“We will continue to service our guests this 2022 with safe and timely flights. We, in the travel industry, also have our sights set on cautiously restoring our pre-pandemic flight frequency this year as we are positive the pandemic will take a turn for the better before end-2022. This is on top of ensuring that in spite of challenges posed by emerging variants and new protocols, our operations are at an optimum – allowing us to avoid flight disruptions,” AirAsia Philippines Spokesperson Steve Dailisan tells FrontpagePH.com.
Also, AirAsia Philippines mounted hybrid and sweeper flights in partnership with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) to service returning overseas Filipino workers who needed to return to the provinces.
Since the first half of January, AirAsia Philippines was able to bring home 2,500 returning Filipinos to their families for the much-anticipated reunions.
To date, AirAsia Philippines is running on an on-time performance (OTP) of 80 percent, which means most, if not all of its flights are able to meet the scheduled departure and arrival in all of its destinations except for situations and incidents beyond the airline’s control.
AirAsia Philippines has also managed to have an all go flight through internal efforts such as the COVID-19 booster shot campaign through partnerships with various local government units. As of 27 January, 50 percent of the Allstars have already received their booster shots.
The airline has also implemented the strict submission of a daily digital health declaration form for all its employees. Flight crew, ground staff and other critical staff who need to report to the office, meanwhile, are subjected to Antigen tests on a regular basis.
“We will continue to embrace changes and thrive towards post-pandemic recovery in the first quarter of 2022. Our system in place is proven to work to our advantage and we will keep it that way to ensure that we will be able to service our guests in the coming months, bringing them home safe and sound,” Dailisan added.