PASSENGER volume at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) increased significantly in the first five months of the year, while cargo volume fell amid loosened pandemic restrictions, its regulator said.
The Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority said international passenger volume climbed 190% to 128,618 in the first five months of the year from 44,365 in the same period a year ago, while domestic passengers surged 348% to 1.5 million from 330,476 previously, data on the airport regulator’s website showed.
International cargo volume declined 25% to 6.9 million kilograms (kg) in the January-to-May period of this year from 9.2 million kg in the same period last year.
Meanwhile, domestic cargo volume fell 40% to 7.3 million kg from 12.2 million kg previously.
MCIA private operator GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. (GMCAC) said in April that it was expecting better cargo and passenger volumes in the second quarter as a result of the easing of mobility restrictions.
GMCAC, a joint venture of Megawide Construction Corp. and Indian infrastructure company GMR Group, took over the development of the airport’s landside facilities in 2014 under a 25-year public-private partnership concession agreement with the government.
“Pre-pandemic, MCIA provided half of EBITDA (or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) and net income to Megawide,” the listed construction company said in a previous statement.
“The recovery of traffic is more related to the easing of travel-related restrictions, and the surge in demand both in country and overseas shows that pent-up demand for travel is driving airline bookings. A higher vaccination rate and a fall in new case numbers are helping to boost consumer demand for travel,” it noted. — Arjay L. Balinbin