GMR-MEGAWIDE Cebu Airport Corp. (GMCAC), the private operator of Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) is strategically focused on developing direct international connectivity to Cebu with increased domestic flights providing traffic to feed the international routes.
This strategy is built around the premise that tourism development will drive economic growth of the Visayas and Mindanao region and that what Mactan-Cebu International Airport offers is a viable alternative to Manila as there are more choices of direct routes than ever before.
“We are growing our capabilities as a gateway to one of the country’s most competitive regions,” said Louie Ferrer, GMCAC President.
GMCAC’s Commercial team is now actively marketing MCIA as a gateway to southern Philippines by pursuing new and diverse routes for Cebu through marketing campaigns and detailed route analysis all geared towards increasing travel and tourism to Cebu and the Visayas-Mindanao regions.
GMCAC is targeting new connectivity from Cebu to Australia and Bangkok as well as expand connections to China, Japan and South Korea.
Andrew Harrison, GMCAC Chief Executive Advisor said the company is currently in discussions with Thai Smiles, the regional affiliate of Thai Airways International, targeting direct daily service from Cebu to Bangkok earmarked for launching in November this year.
The Cebu-Bangkok route will make it the only direct service from Visayas to Thailand with a daily frequency. GMCAC always considers new routes on the basis of potential demand to/from the region as well as how desirable a route would be to people from Cebu and the surrounding region.
It is this approach that led to the successful launch of the Philippine Airlines 3-times weekly non-stop service to Los Angeles, Emirates daily service to Dubai, Eva Air’s daily service to Taipei and onwards to the USA and Mactan-Cebu Airport’s first direct scheduled service to China (Xiamen) 3-times weekly.
When plans push through, the new service from Cebu to Bangkok will become the fifth new addition to the international routes launched out of MCIA this year.
MCIA currently caters to 12 international destinations and 23 domestic destinations.
The aviation research firm, CAPA earlier said that Mactan-Cebu is one of the fastest-growing airports in Asia, having recorded 16 percent growth to 8 million passengers in 2015 versus 2014. It is expected to continue its double-digit growth this year on the back of local and foreign expansions.
GMCAC – which is 60% owned by listed Filipino construction company Megawide Construction Corporation and 40% by Bangalore-based GMR Infrastructure Limited – won a 25-year concession agreement to build and operate MCIA.
Last year, GMCAC has started work on MCIA’s Terminal 2 to boost the airport’s passenger carrying capacity to 12.5 to 13 million a year from the current 4.5 million by June of 2018. /PR
