Aviation Industry Makes Big Impact on Philippine Economy

Former Philippine Airlines President Jaime Bautista discussed the trends and issues in the aviation sector as well as in local and international tourism. Having spent twenty-six (26) years in Philippine Airlines, he has seen the gradual rise of the aviation landscape from a government-owned national flag carrier with a monopoly of the domestic and foreign airlines dominating the international market serving only around 1.2 million visitors per year to a 21st century landscape of many players, making a whale of a difference in the aviation ballgame with the rise of giant global businesses.

In fact, World Aviation Industry statistics in 2018 show 22,000 routes around the world with 4.4 billion people annually and 12 million passengers flown daily, manifesting an aviation industry on the rise. In the year 2000, a passenger flee once every forty-four (44) months on the average compared to eighteen (18) years later where the time between trips was cut in half to twenty-one (21) months. 22,000 “city pairs” more than doubled that of 10,250 routes flown by airlines in 1998. Hence, this had a great socio-economic impact in the aviation industry, accounting for 3.6% of Global GDP, 66 million jobs worldwide, US$ 2.7 Trillion global impact and US$ 9 Billion for tourism. As such, there is an IATA forecast of 8.2 billion passengers by 2037.

Likewise, over the next twenty (20) years, the expected growth in the frequency of air travel of the average citizen will occur in the emerging markets. In so doing, there is a need to meet the increasing demands for air travel of 48,000 global fleet by 2038, 39,000 new airplanes, 550,000 new pilots, 640,000 new technicians or engineers and 40% share for the Asia Pacific airlines. The question now is whether the Philippines can capitalize with these opportunities and cope with challenges posed by this surge in air travel.

He presented the increasing number of airlines throwing theirs hats into the Philippine aviation game and presented some statistics on the different Philippine aviation players, which included Philippine Airlines ranking eighth (8th) in the Top 10 list of the World’s Longest Passenger Flights.

In conclusion, he said that Filipino Airlines are the top drivers of the tourism economy with a healthy tourism growth inspite of challenges. According to the Department of Tourism, there were 4.8 million visitors for January to July 2019 or a 12.4% increase from last year. Thus, the economical benefits of tourism are 5.4 million jobs, 13.1% of total employment, Php 245 Billion economic contribution, 110 million domestic tourists and Php 3.2 Trillion 2018 expenditures.

In the end, the Philippines is no longer “a struggling tourism backwater”, but, “a tourism leader and innovator”. As such, our airports need to keep up with the surge. “We must ensure that our tourism initiatives also promote sustainability in a way that protects our local communities and the environment. We must ensure that travel is safe and secure for everyone.” Indeed, “the challenges are great”, but these will be met “with the right spirit of courage and Filipino ingenuity.”