AirAsia’s Teleport sets Zamboanga cargo operations in Sept.

Philippines AirAsia, Inc. said its logistics venture Teleport will begin commercial cargo operations in Zamboanga in September.

“AirAsia Philippines is expanding its commercial cargo operations through its logistics venture, Teleport, in Zamboanga starting next month,” the low-cost carrier said in a recent statement.

The airline said the new venture is expected to bring in four tons of cargo per day.

“Our expansion in terms of infrastructure development will allow us in AirAsia to fly in more goods and services as we strengthen our cargo operations in Zamboanga to cater to the demands of Southern Mindanao,” the company noted.

Philippines AirAsia is a unit of Malaysia-based investment holding company AirAsia Group Berhad .

The group recently reported that its Philippine unit saw a 2% increase in passengers carried in the second quarter of the year, indicating a better performance than the previous quarter.

“Monthly breakdown showed that load factor was as high as 83% in June 2021, boosted by active capacity management,” the group said in a statement.

“This was despite running a limited number of charter and passenger flights due to community quarantine restrictions and despite flying only from its Manila hub,” it added.

The group has said it expects domestic operations in the Philippines to be below 25% of pre-pandemic levels until at least September while the population awaits widespread vaccination against the coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19. —

Arjay L. Balinbin