The Philippines’ aviation industry eventually got off in the year 2022. Local airlines in the country were allowed to start service as soon as travel bans were removed because they get money from the government. In my honest opinion, the airline industry in the Philippines will improve in 2023 if more shutdowns and flying limitations are not enacted.
Even though 2022 was a year of recuperation, I anticipate 2023 to be a year of progress toward recovering profitability.
More airport congestion is to be expected as airlines continue to expand their capacities, and of course, connectivity to other locations inside the Philippines and beyond is to be anticipated.
Though 2022 was not a cakewalk, airlines managed to succeed.
Indeed, local airlines bounced back strongly in 2022. Reductions in internal travel limitations, along with aggressive advertising and vengeful tourists, have contributed to this trend. Airlines are operating at around 85% to 90% of their pre-pandemic capacity, with both international and domestic flights affected. Cebu Pacific, on the other hand, has increased its domestic capacity above its pre-pandemic levels, and Philippine Airlines plans to return to its pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2022.
However, difficulties arrived in early 2022. Even flight crew personnel were affected by the Omicron strain in January and February, leading airlines to recall previously laid-off flight crew workers, especially cabin crew. Local airlines, however, viewed this as a chance to gradually expand capacity by rehiring flight attendants.
In addition, domestic airlines were short-staffed since many of its employees had left to work for an international carrier between June and August, leading to flight cancellations and exhaustion among the cabin crew. In response, domestic airlines have begun recruiting more flight attendants to fill the void created by those who left. Our local airlines’ recent hiring surge in 2022 was a strong indication of the high demand for positions as flight attendants in the region. The Philippines’ four major airlines—Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific, AirAsia Philippines, and Royal Air—recently undertook massive recruitment drives for cabin crew employees.
The number of available seats and daily flights offered by airlines kept growing. To further serve its customers, AirAsia Philippines has begun offering direct flights to Dumaguete and Roxas City from its capital city of Manila. Furthermore, additional routes were launched by Philippine Airlines, with the opening of service to Baguio and Borongan from the Cebu hub.
Meanwhile, Cebu Pacific kept adding to its fleet with brand new planes like the 459-seat A330-900neo and the 236-seat A321. As a result, they’ve begun using them on all routes, both domestic and international, in place of older, less capacious aircraft. Unquestionably, more hands were required. Just recently, Cebu Pacific’s domestic capacity also grew to exceed what it was before the epidemic.
In 2023, things will look up for Philippine airlines.
I anticipate 2023 to be a banner year for airlines in the Philippines provided that travel restrictions are not tightened further. At first, more routes will become accessible again.
In March of 2023, Philippine Airlines will begin offering direct flights to Perth. Should everything go as planned, PAL President Capt. Stanely Ng has said that the airline would resume additional foreign routes, including those to and from London, Sapporo, and Auckland.
Up to eleven brand-spanking-new planes will join Cebu Pacific’s fleet in 2023. Because these new planes have more seats, Cebu Pacific will be able to take on even more passengers. I’m holding out hope that other routes to the Middle East and Australia will soon be reinstated.
AirAsia Philippines plans to expand its service in two ways: by adding new international flights and by increasing its capacity to locations inside ASEAN. In 2023, they also want to begin flying to Narita Airport in Tokyo. After relaunching its Cebu hub in 2022, AirAsia Philippines plans to revive its Clark hub the following year.
Also, in 2023, the aviation industry is expected to hire more people, especially for pilot and flight attendant employment. So, aspiring flight attendants, start getting ready right now. Potentially, the Philippines’ airline industry might resume employment around the latter half of January or the first half of February of 2023.
Finally, I anticipate that China will reopen its borders, which would greatly increase the capacity of our planes. Once they reopen, I have no doubt that by 2023 they will have exceeded their capacity before the epidemic.
It is my sincere wish that the events of 2020–2021 would never happen again. The aviation industry is about to rocket upward. All airlines in the Philippines should expect smooth sailing in 2023.
First love never dies. I fell in love with airplanes and aviation when I was a kid. My dream was to become a pilot, but destiny led me to another path: to be an aviation digital media content creator and a small business owner. My passion for aviation inspires me to bring you quality content through my website and social accounts. Aviation is indeed in my blood and blog!
