6 ECONOMY EDGEDAVAO
VOL.12 ISSUE 154 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11-12, 2019
AirAsia PH projects P29-B revenue in '19
A BANNER YEAR. AirAsia Philippines sees 2019 as its banner year as the airline company projects PHP29 billion revenue by the end of the year, or 39 percent growth from revenue in 2018. Lean Daval Jr
n of�icial of AirAsia Philippines on Wednesday said the carrier sees 2019 as its banner year. "We project PHP29 billion revenue by the end of the year, or 39 percent growth from revenue in 2018," AirAsia Philippines vice chair Sheila Romero said during the launch of the carrier's new of�ice. Romero said the management projects a 90 percent load factor by the end of the year, or having �lown a total of 10 million passengers by yearend. AirAsia Philippines' capacity growth in second quarter of 2019 was up by 19 percent compared to the
same period last year. Passengers carried for the second quarter was recorded at 12.8 million, an 18 percent growth year-on-year, resulting in a load factor of 85 percent. More planes and routes await the customers, as Romero said the local carrier is committed to provide comfort, convenience at affordable ticket prices to the Filipinos. In 2019 alone, the carrier has already launched new routes such as �lights between Kalibo and Kunming, Macao and Chengdu; Clark-Kaohsiung; Cebu-Kaohsiung; Manila-Osaka; and Manila-Bacolod. The carrier, in terms of
punctuality, has improved based on the on-time performance (OTP). The OTP is being measured by number of departures and arrivals that take place in less than 15 minutes after scheduled departure and arrival times, including cancellations. AirAsia Philippines chief operations of�icer Dexter Comendador said the OTP improvement can be attributed to the carrier's reserved cabin crew and planes, as well as its fast turn-around. "We have reserved pilots, so that if a pilot stumbles, for example, there is someone to �ly the aircraft.
dustries." “PEZA is 100% supportive of the CITIRA bill’s objectives and goals and wants to contribute in its enhancement and �inal version to ensure that it will remove the fear of its existing locators that it’s not a major tax revamp, but an enhanced one and it will continuously attract more investors to the country and empower the Filipino-owned companies, the SMEs, the farmers, and every Filipino to become part in fully industrializing the
country," she said. The PEZA chief said that the agency's registered enterprises can choose between a longer transition of 5 to 10 years, "which can ensure existing investors of the grandfather rule, or may shift to the new incentive system under CITIRA." Plaza is also suggesting that its proposed increase of its current gross income earned tax regime from 5% to 7% will be considered in CITIRA instead of the corporate income tax
rate in order to retain the one-stop-shop of PEZA for enhanced ease-of-doingbusiness in the ecozones. PEZA also recommended the following to "�inetune" the CITIRA bill in favor of the agency: A �ixed 10-year or 15year transition period to be extended to the locators on a per project basis to provide for a common sunset period considering the usual term for the end of life of products and useful life of equipment.
AIRASIA, P10
PEZA chief changes tone on CITIRA bill
P
hilippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) Director General Charito Plaza has changed her tone on the proposed second tax reform package of the Duterte administration as she is now backing the Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Rationalization Act (CITIRA) bill.
In a statement on Wednesday, the PEZA announced that Plaza has guaranteed the Department of Finance (DOF) of the agency's support for the CITIRA bill.
Plaza was a staunch critic of the CITIRA bill as the proposed rationalization of �iscal incentives will reduce the country's attractiveness to foreign investors.
The second package of the government's tax reform program aims to slash the corporate income tax from 30% to 20% come 2029 and rationalize �iscal incentives by amending or repealing 123 laws on tax perks and consolidate it into a single omnibus incentive code. Plaza's change of heart came after the PEZA chief and Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez agreed to cooperate in �ine-tuning the measure to "consider concerns of PEZA and its in-
PEZA, P9