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MANILA, Philippines - The operator of Cebu Pacific may likely hit its 14-million passenger traffic target, its chief executive officer said on Thursday.
"In a country like ours, the aviation sector is growing double digits and the aviation sector is very important to our economy," Lance Gokongwei, Cebu Air Inc. (CEB) president, said on the sidelines of the 45th Annual Meeting of the Asian Development Bank Board of Governors.
Gokongwei cited the better-than-expected tourism data in January, which saw foreign tourist arrivals reaching 411,064 to set a record high for the first time in a month, and beating the 400,000 target. The government aims to have 4.6 million foreign tourist arrivals this year.
Cebu Pacific welcomed the entry of San Miguel Corp. in the aviation industry through Philippine Airlines, saying competition could only benefit the Filipino consumers.
"We don't necessarily have competing roles. We have complementary roles: their strength in long-haul and premium markets, our strength in the low cost," Gokongwei said.
Amid the government's move to reduce the number of domestic flights to minimize flight delays, Gokongwei stressed the need to create other gateways other than in Manila.
He said the government may consider building airports in Clark, Cebu, Davao, Kalibo and Iloilo to decongest the runway at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
Another way to ease congestion is to upgrade provincial airports, which cannot operate beyond nighttime.
"By increasing utilization [through the introduction of] night landing etc., you're able to increase more domestic flights beyond night time [and] you can offer direct flights from those destinations to international routes," Gokongwei said.
JG Summit Holdings Inc., the parent firm of CEB, has expressed its interest to bid for airports that will be privatized by the government. These are located in Cebu; Puerto Princesa, Palawan; Tagbilaran, Bohol; and Laguindingan, Misamis Oriental.
"If terms of reference are offered there, we will certainly take a very serious look at that," said Gokongwei.
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