Philippines AirAsia (Z2, Manila Ninoy Aquino International) plans to launch a base at and international services out of the newly opened airport in Panglao during the course of 2019, with Macau International and Taipei Taoyuan likely to be the first destinations, CEO Dexter Comendador told the Filipino media.
The LCC currently operates 21 weekly flights to Panglao from Manila Ninoy Aquino International. According to the BusinessMirror, Comendador said the carrier would be interested in increasing the frequency to five flights per day, subject to the capacity of Bohol's tourist infrastructure.
Subsequently, Philippines AirAsia is also mulling launching a base at Panglao with a single A320-200 stationed there. The aircraft would be used, among others, for international services, initially to Taipei and Macau, and later also to mainland China, Korea, and Japan.
Panglao currently sees predominantly domestic traffic. Besides Philippines AirAsia, Cebu Pacific Air, Philippine Airlines, Cebgo, PAL Express, and AirSWIFT offer scheduled services from the airport. The only international route presently operated is Air Philippines' 7x weekly service to Seoul Incheon.
The airport located on the small island of Panglao, connected via roads to Bohol in the southern part of the Philippines, opened in November 2018 but was officially inaugurated only on January 20, 2019. It replaced the older and much smaller gateway at Tagbilaran on Bohol itself, which subsequently closed down. It cost PHP8.9 billion pesos (USD169 million) to build and has a planned throughput of 2 million passengers in the first full year of operation.
