Airbus wants more orders from PH airlines

MANILA, Philippines – After 90 firm orders since 2011 from Philippine carriers, European aircraft manufacturer Airbus looks forward for more aircraft orders from one of the most competitive airline industries in Asia.

“Yes, the Philippines is definitely an important market in Asia Pacific. We’ve had many orders,” Simon Azar, manager of Airbus Twin Aisle marketing division told visiting Filipino reporters.

It’s biggest orders from the Philippines came from legacy carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) and budget airline Cebu Pacific.

In 2012, PAL signed two contracts with Airbus covering a total of 44 of Airbus A320s and 20 A330s.

Cebu Pacific ordered 30 of the latest generation A321neo in 2011.

PAL currently operates 19 A320 on its domestic and regional network, nine A330s on regional services across Asia and seven A340-300s on long-range routes to the United States. The flag carrier’s budget unit PAL Express operates 14 A320s on its domestic and regional network.

Cebu Pacific, meanwhile, operates 34 A320s on its regional network.

The partnership between PAL and Airbus started in 1978 while Cebu Pacific became a customer of Airbus in 2004.

Aside from PAL and Cebu Pacific, budget carriers Zest Airways and Tigerair Philippines, formerly SEAir, are also loyal customers of Airbus.
 
ZestAir currently operates 11 A320s while Tigerair, in partnership with Tiger Airways of Singapore, utilizes five A320s. AirAsia Philippines also took delivery of its first two aircraft in August 2011.

Airbus said that 35% of Airbus’ 5,277 aircraft order backlog valued at $735 billion came from Asia Pacific, including the Philippines. This was followed by Europe, 18%; North America, 12%; Middle East, 8% and Latin America, 6%.
 
Asia Pacific is also seen to lead in world traffic by 2032 from 29% last year to 34% in 2032.
 
Airbus is also banking on the forecasted passenger traffic growth of 6.1% to and from Asia Pacific region by 2032. – Rappler.com