GGRAsia – Manila-Incheon Airlines Offered 50% Capacity Increase

The Philippines and South Korea have agreed to increase weekly flight capacity by 50 percent between Manila, the Philippine capital, and Incheon International Airport, the main air hub serving Seoul, the South Korean capital.

The weekly capacity of airports is set to increase from 20,000 to 30,000 seats. The move was made under a bilateral memorandum of understanding signed on July 4 after two days of negotiations, the Philippine News Agency reported on Monday, citing information from the Philippine Department of Transportation.

The increase in the number of seats is aimed at meeting the growing interest of Filipinos and South Koreans in tourism between the two countries since the easing of travel restrictions following the Covid-19 pandemic, the news agency said, citing the transportation ministry.

“The increased capacity will be felt by the market once airlines take advantage of the opportunity to carry more passenger traffic between the capitals of the two countries,” the Philippine Department of Transportation said.

There is no capacity limit on flights from outside Manila to South Korea, nor on flights from Manila to other airports in South Korea besides Incheon, the department noted.

Manila is home to a cluster of casino resorts open to both domestic and foreign players, with the largest establishments being private sector resorts in Entertainment City.

The country’s casino industry has been recording a strong recovery in gross gaming revenue (GGR) since the Philippines eased pandemic restrictions in the first half of 2022, aided by domestic demand as well as inbound tourism. South Korea is currently the top source market for Philippine casinos in terms of foreign players, according to comments from gaming industry representatives.

Incheon and Seoul have casino complexes, but the gambling facilities are only open to foreigners.

According to the Philippine Department of Tourism, South Korea was the top source of foreign visitors to the Philippines during the January-June period, with 792,482 arrivals. This represents 28.2 percent of the total of nearly 2.81 million foreign tourists to the Philippines. This calculation excludes the 220,026 overseas Filipino arrivals.

Visitors from the United States ranked second in the first half of this year, with 493,900 arrivals, or 17.6 percent of the total. China ranked third, with 191,222 arrivals, or 6.8 percent of the total foreigners.

During 2019, South Korea provided just under 1.99 million arrivals to the Philippines, or 24.3% of the total.