Philippines AirAsia (Z2, Manila Ninoy Aquino International) has dodged a last-minute holiday season shutdown by paying a portion of a PHP1.14 billion Philippine peso (USD20.5 million) debt owed to the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP). The low-cost carrier had a noon deadline on Friday, December 16, to pay the bill which was primarily made up of air navigation and concession fees.
According to Manila's Business Inquirer news outlet, CAAP Director General Manuel Antonio Tamayo wrote to the airline on December 15 telling them to pay the debt or risk being shut out of CAAP-owned and operated facilities. Philippines AirAsia subsequently settled an undisclosed portion of that debt within 24 hours. ch-aviation has approached CAAP for a comment on the matter.
Philippines AirAsia is a joint venture between Capital A (formerly known as AirAsia Group) subsidiary AirAsia Investment Limited which has a 40% stake in the airline and the Romero family-owned F&S Holdings which holds the remaining 60%. ch-aviation PRO airlines data shows the airline flies to 30 destinations in 11 countries with a fleet of twenty-six A320-200s (of which 12 are presently inactive).
Philippines AirAsia is reporting end-of-year 90% domestic and 80% international load factors. “We will end 2022 as the strongest we’ve been in the past two years,” Philippines AirAsia CEO Ricky Isla told the Manila Bulletin. The airline enjoyed its best monthly passenger numbers in November since the pandemic began and say they expect to be back to 2019 flying levels in the first half of 2023. Capital A's 3Q 2022 report says passenger demand in the Philippines was strongest on leisure routes, which in turn was driven by an easing of travel restrictions. Presently, the airline's best-performing routes are the Manila-Caticlan, Manila-Cebu, Manila-Bangkok and Manila-Seoul Incheon routes.
