Aboitiz InfraCapital GMR Megawide Cebu Airport Corporation (AGMCAC) expects to hit around 12 million passengers for this year or 20 percent higher than 2023.

During the 6th Philippine Airport Modernization and Expansion Summit, AGMCAC chief executive officer Anthanasios Titonis told media that MCIA will have “on the same level like we had pre-Covid.”

He cited the growth in passenger volumes will come mainly from MCIA’s two main markets, the domestic and South Korea flights.

In 2023, MCIA recorded an 81 percent year-on-year increase passenger traffic at 10.032 million from 5.529 million. There were 7.528 million domestic passengers while 2.504 million were international passengers.

Air traffic movement also grew 68 percent in 2023 with new routes launched and the resumption of domestic and international routes. MCIA was serviced by 20 airlines with five domestic and 15 international and connected to 40 destinations, 28 domestic and 12 international.

“ I think the biggest market for us in the future is India,” Titonis said, adding that South Asian country is growing including its outgoing tourism.

In the same summit, AGMCAC senior manager for airline marketing Rodante Virata Ponio Jr. in a presentation noted that MCIA’s core international markets were South Korea, China, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan and Hongkong remained for the past decade. But MCIA is eyeing emerging markets for Cebu, like Australia, India and Russia.

Ponio clarified though that there are currently no direct flights to these markets but the AGMCAC team is working very hard to get those flights into Cebu in the next couple of years.

Fights coming from the United States of America through United Airlines will be in its full airport operations at MCIA by October.

Titonis disclosed that Indian carriers will have meetings with their team by October and they hope the direct flights from India will be either this year or the next.

AGMCAC and Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority recently launched Cebu Connect designed to facilitate efficient and seamless airport transfers within MCIA, thereby reducing layover time and maximizing comfort and convenience for travelers.

Cebu Connect is adjusting the minimum connecting time for domestic -to-domestic flights by 35 minutes, and 60 minutes for international-to-international, and for domestic-to-international and vice versa.

Cebu Connect aims to boost tourism in the Philippines by positioning Cebu as an ideal entry point for both domestic and international tourists.