An official of AirAsia Philippines on Wednesday said the carrier sees 2019 as its banner year.

“We project PHP29 billion revenue by the end of the year, or 39 percent growth from revenue in 2018,” AirAsia Philippines vice chair Sheila Romero said during the launch of the carrier’s new office.

Romero said the management projects a 90 percent load factor by the end of the year, or having flown a total of 10 million passengers by yearend.

AirAsia Philippines’ capacity growth in second quarter of 2019 was up by 19 percent compared to the same period last year. Passengers carried for the second quarter was recorded at 12.8 million, an 18 percent growth year-on-year, resulting in a load factor of 85%.

More planes and routes await the customers, as Romero said the local carrier is committed to provide comfort, convenience at affordable ticket prices to the Filipinos.

In 2019 alone, the carrier has already launched new routes such as flights between Kalibo and Kunming, Macao and Chengdu; Clark-Kaohsiung; Cebu-Kaohsiung; Manila-Osaka; and Manila-Bacolod.

The carrier, in terms of punctuality, has improved based on the on-time performance (OTP).

The OTP is being measured by number of departures and arrivals that take place in less than 15 minutes after scheduled departure and arrival times, including cancellations.

AirAsia Philippines chief operations officer Dexter Comendador said the OTP improvement can be attributed to the carrier’s reserved cabin crew and planes, as well as its fast turn-around.

“We have reserved pilots, so that if a pilot stumbles, for example, there is someone to fly the aircraft. We have reserved planes that are already there, which we could use if in case a plane encounters technical problems,” he said.

Comendador added the carrier’s cabin crew are used to doing a 25-minute turn-around time. “These make us sustain improvements in our OTP,” he said. (PNA)