AIR TRAVEL RECOVERY. The Megawide Corporation, part of the GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corporation that manages the Mactan-Cebu International Airport, expresses optimism the air travel industry will bounce back. Megawide reported on Monday (Aug. 17, 2020) that revenues of the MCIA dropped by 50.6 percent in the first half of 2020 as air travel demand plunged due to Covid-19 pandemic. (PNA photo by John Rey Saavedra)
CEBU CITY – The Megawide Construction Corp. on Monday expressed optimism the air travel industry will bounce back to its usual splendor, even as it reported the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) revenue drop by 50.6 percent in the first half of 2020 due to coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) crisis.
“The situation we are in is unprecedented but we remain in high spirits for the company’s prospects moving forward. This is the reason why we are building our runway for the future, which we envision to propel us to even greater heights in the years to come,” said Megawide chairman and chief executive officer Edgar Saavedra in a statement.
MCIA, operated by consortium group GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp., saw its earnings plunging to PHP888 million in the first six months of 2020, down from PHP1.8 billion posted in the same period last year, based on the Megawide’s financial results disclosed Monday.
MCIA also posted merchandising revenue of only PHP69 million during the period.
The drop in airport revenue dragged Megawide’s consolidated revenue down by 21 percent to PHP6.44 billion.
Megawide suffered a net loss attributable to equity holders of PHP398 million for the period largely due to the MCIA concession, together with its foreign partner India’s GMR Infrastructure Ltd.
MCIA’s recorded lower passenger volumes of 742,000 and 1.7 million in the first half of 2020, compared with 2.1 million and 4.3 million for the international and domestic segments, respectively.
The drop affected all revenue segments, the company said.
The passenger traffic for the first half of 2020 reached only more than 2.463 million, down 61 percent from 6.353 million in the comparable period last year.
MCIA is likely to see passenger traffic declining to three million for the full year, a level that was last seen more than 10 years ago, amid the dismal air travel demand due to the Covid-19 scare. (PNA)
