CEBU Pacific emerge as the country’s top carrier in both domestic and international passenger traffic despite modest growth in overall air travel in the first six months of 2026, data from the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) showed.
The budget carrier maintained its dominant position in the domestic market, carrying 9.03 million passengers in the first half of the year, while subsidiary CebGo recorded 976,005 passengers.
The two carried a combined 10.01 million domestic passengers in the period, accounting for about 57.6 percent of total domestic passenger traffic.
Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL), meanwhile, carried 2.31 million domestic passengers while its subsidiary PAL Express flew 4.26 million passengers.
Philippines AirAsia followed with 2.3 million passengers while boutique carriers AirSWIFT Transport and Sunlight Express Airways carried 176,335 and 92,846 passengers, respectively, during the first half.
Cebu Pacific also emerged as the largest Philippine carrier in the international market during the six-month period.
The airline carried 3.41 million international passengers, narrowly ahead of PAL, which transported 3.39 million passengers.
Philippines AirAsia ranked third among local carriers with 584,476 international passengers, while PAL Express recorded 20,234 passengers. Royal Air Charter Services accounted for 301 international passengers.
Foreign carriers handled 51.5 percent, or about 7.9 million, of the country’s 15.27 million international passengers. Local airlines accounted for the remaining 48.5 percent, equivalent to 7.4 million passengers.
The country’s total domestic and international passenger traffic reached 32.7 million from January to June, up 1.23 percent from the 32.3 million recorded in the same period last year.
Shares of Cebu Air Inc., operator of Cebu Pacific, shed P0.10, or 0.36 percent, to close at P27.65 each on Monday, while those of PAL Holdings Inc., the parent firm of Philippine Airlines, rose P0.08, or 2.78 percent, to close at P2.96 apiece.
