Air transportation in the Philippines
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Air transportation in the Philippines goes back to the early days of aviation prior to World War II, during the American colonial period of the Philippines. Currently, the Philippines has several registered airline companies, but they are mostly chartered. There are two main domestic airline groups doing business as Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific, with AirAsia Philippines competing on some international routes. The domestic market is dominated by the Cebu Pacific group which has a 61% market share, followed by the Philippine Airlines group which has 29%, followed by AirAsia, having a 9% share.
History
Prior to the second liberalization of the Philippine airline industry in 1995, state-owned Philippine Airlines enjoyed virtual monopoly with the country's adopted policy of "one country, one airline" during the dictatorship of President Ferdinand Marcos. The government's subsidy in the form of mail freight payments supported the company's massive expansion program in the 1960s. In 1973, the government ordered the absorption by Philippine Air Lines, Inc. of two other privately owned airlines, Air Manila and Filipinas Orient Airways, to form Philippine Airlines as the single flag carrier of the Republic of the Philippines.
In 2013, SkyJet Airlines, a new airline company, launched its domestic commercial flights to leisure island destinations such as Balesin, Batanes, Boracay and Busuanga. For the aforementioned island destinations, SkyJet is competing with another small airline, Island Transvoyager.
In 2016, the Cebu Pacific group was the largest domestic airline with a market share of 55% for its Cebu Pacific unit and 6% for its Tigerair Philippines unit. Philippine Airlines came second with 25% for its PAL Express unit and 4% for its Philippine Airlines unit. Air Asia had 8% for its Zest Airways unit and 1% for its Air Asia unit. SkyJet and Island Transvoyager both had less than 1%.
List of airlines of the Philippines
This list of airlines enumerates local airlines in the Philippines which have a current air operator's certificate issued by the Civil Aviation Authority.
Note:Destinations in bold indicate primary hubs, those in italic indicate secondary hubs, while those with regular font indicate focus cities.
Passenger airlines
Mainline
Airline | Image | IATA | ICAO | Callsign | Hubs and focus cities | Founded | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cebgo | DG | SRQ | BLUE JAY | Manila Cebu |
1995 | Founded as South East Asian Airlines. Operates as Cebu Pacific. | |
Cebu Pacific | 5J | CEB | CEBU | Manila Cebu Clark Davao Iloilo Kalibo |
1988 | Founded as Cebu Air and commenced operations in 1996 as Cebu Pacific. | |
PAL Express | 2P | GAP | AIRPHIL | Manila Cebu Clark Davao Zamboanga |
1995 | Founded as Air Philippines and commenced operations in 1996. Operates as Phiippine Airlines. | |
Philippine Airlines | PR | PAL | PHILIPPINE | Manila Cebu Clark Kalibo |
1935 | Founded as Philippine Aerial Taxi Company and commenced operations in 1941 as Philippine Air Lines. | |
Philippines AirAsia | Z2 | EZD | ZEST AIRWAYS | Manila Cebu Clark Davao Kalibo Puerto Princesa |
2010 | Founded as AirAsia Philippines. |
Regional
Airline | Image | IATA | ICAO | Callsign | Hubs and focus cities | Founded | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Air Juan | AO | AIR JUAN | Puerto Princesa | 2012 | |||
AirSWIFT | T6 | ATX | AIRSWIFT | Manila El Nido |
2002 | Founded as Island Transvoyager. | |
Pan Pacific Airlines | 8Y | AAV | ASTRO-PHIL | Kalibo | 1973 | Founded as Astro Air International. | |
SkyJet Airlines | M8 | MSJ | MAGNUM AIR | Manila | 2005 | Commenced operations in 2012. | |
Sky Pasada | SP | WCC | SKY PASADA | Manila | 2010 | ||
SEAir International | XO | SGD | AIR BLUE | Clark Manila |
2012 | ||
Charter
Airline | Image | IATA | ICAO | Callsign | Hubs and focus cities | Founded | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Air Link International Airways | Manila | 1983 | |||||
INAEC | Manila | 1993 | |||||
Lionair | Manila | 2011 | |||||
Pacificair | GX | PFR | Manila | 1947 | |||
Subic Seaplane | Subic | ||||||
Wonder Airways | I4 | ISN | COLORUS | Manila | 1986 | Founded as Interisland Air Services. |
Cargo airlines
Airline | Image | IATA | ICAO | Callsign | Hubs and focus cities | Founded | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2GO | PR | BOI | Manila | 1988 | Founded as Aboitiz Air. |
See also
References
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Airlines of the Philippines. |