TRAFFIC from China into the Philippines is showing signs of a comeback, as evidenced from the increased group tour bookings and resumption of charter flights in the run-up to the Lunar New Year period.
Philippine Airlines will start charter flights from Chengdu to Kalibo today and will offer daily charter flights between Hong Kong and Cebu from February 10 to 16.
Zest Air launched charter flights from Shanghai to Kalibo on January 11, while it increased the frequency of its regular Shanghai-Manila flights to four times weekly since last December.
Airphil Express is also expected to start charter flights from Hangzhou and Guangzhou to Kalibo in May 2013, in addition to its charter services from Guangzhou and Shanghai to Cebu since January 24 and from Shanghai to Kalibo since November 30.
“Whereas before there were Chinese airlines (launching flights), now there are more local airlines,” according to a spokesperson from the Philippine Department of Tourism.
However, Performance Travel & Tours’ assistant operations manager, Aileen Cada, estimated that the inbound traffic from China “has recovered only up to 75 per cent of the levels prior to the May-October 2012 travel ban (imposed by China)”.
During the Lunar New Year period in January 2012, the Philippines welcomed 42,868 Chinese visitors, and arrivals from China surpassed the 25,000 mark each month up until the travel ban. Following that, numbers dipped sharply to less than 20,000 monthly and only improved slightly when the ban was lifted.
