LOW-COST carrier AirphilExpress (APX) takes delivery of another brand-new Airbus A320 aircraft on Saturday, which is part of the airline’s $250-million refleeting program.
The new aircraft will allow APX to expand its flight offerings in the domestic and regional routes. The carrier is set to acquire 18 more aircraft until 2013 to support the planned route expansion. The budget airline also maintains three reliable Q300s and five high-speed Q400s for inter-island travel.
“While traffic growth at all Philippine carriers remains at double digits this year, the rise of APX market share has been described as “staggering” said Alfredo Herrera, senior vice president for marketing and sales.
From 2.9 percent of market share during the airline’s prerebranding period in 2009, the carrier’s share of the domestic market grew to 11 percent in 2010, representing some 1.9 million passengers on its first full year of operations.
On July 28, it launches its Cebu-Hong Kong inaugural flight at the Cebu-Mactan International Airport. Their regular flight leaves Cebu at 7 am and departs Hong Kong for Cebu at 10:30am daily. It is also scheduled to operate charter flights from Shanghai and Canton (China) twice weekly to Kalibo upon acquiring its permit from the aviation body late this month.
Herrera said the budget airline has chosen Hong Kong and China because of its potential for growth. “The decision to launch the first Hong Kong flight of APX from Cebu is an acknowledgment of the valuable business that the province brings into the country in terms of trade and tourism,” Herrera added.
AirphilExpress used to be known as Air Philippines, until it was acquired by the Lucio Tan Group of Companies. In March 1999, Air Philippines was granted approval to operate international services to Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the US.
(Recto Mercene)
