Capital A’s Tony Fernandes optimistic on rise in PH tourism

***Fernandes says 9M tourists in the PH attainable

***AirAsia holds P1SO sale for domestic and international destinations

Manila, Philippines, 15 June 2023 – Capital A Chief Executive Officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes is ready to fast-track tourism recovery and bring in more investments to the Philippines.

“We are so bullish because the Philippines is probably one of the best-kept secrets, it’s such a beautiful country. We do believe that we can increase regional connectivity across AirAsia’s Filipino hubs and really bring Asean into the Philippines. At Capital A, we plan to fast-track our investments in the Philippines and we’re finally going to make that secret come true,” Fernandes said. 

The AirAsia visionary furthered that based on the numbers, more people are now trading down from higher to low-cost products and shorter trips as supposed to flying trans-pacific.  

Connectivity has consistently played a crucial role in the Philippines, serving not only domestic needs but also facilitating regional travel. At first, the Philippines established connections with various Asian countries like Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, and Malaysia through the hubs in Manila and Cebu. According to Fernandes, there are plans to enhance connectivity in order to attract a larger number of tourists to destinations such as Cebu, Bacolod, and Palawan.

“We’re seeing a huge pent-up demand for travel, which gives me a huge amount of confidence. I think our strength is that we are also very strong in secondary and tertiary cities and in providing connectivity. So that is adding growth,” Fernandes added.

To sustain the pent-up demand for travel, the World’s Best Low-Cost Airline launched another round of PISO SALE available for booking until 18 June for domestic destinations such as Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Tacloban, Puerto Princesa, Bacolod, and international destinations Hong Kong, Macao, Seoul, Taipei, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen for flights from 1 September 2023 to 8 October 2024.

Despite market forces and other contributing factors, Fernandes said flying with AirAsia remains affordable. He furthered that the World’s Best Low-Cost Airline will continue to provide a competitive fare and create more traffic and new destinations which weren’t there before. 

Comparing the country to another tourist favorite - Thailand, Fernandes furthered that the Philippines can reach 9 million tourists annually.  This however is attainable if government and the private sector could back the opening of more destinations with airport infrastructure and other vital infrastructure to get to the airport.

To better serve its guests and provide more passenger convenience, the World’s Best Low-Cost Airline reminds its guests that beginning 1 July 2023, all AirAsia domestic flights will depart from and arrive at the NAIA Terminal 2. All international flights on the other hand will remain to operate at the NAIA Terminal 3 until further notice.