Wanderlust wins: Singapore Airlines says travel demand still taking off

Singapore Airlines

'We are very positive about the market, and we do see people are still very interested to travel,' Singapore Airlines general manager Liewei Tai tells Rappler

AT A GLANCE

• Despite rising fuel costs affecting airfares, Filipinos remain eager to travel, with Singapore Airlines reporting a strong demand for flights from the Philippines.
• Singapore Airlines has increased its flight services in the Philippines and carried a record number of passengers, indicating a positive outlook for the local market.
• Improvements in the travel experience at Ninoy Aquino International Airport are being noticed by passengers, contributing to the overall growth in air travel demand.

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MANILA, Philippines – Even as higher fuel costs put pressure on airfares, Filipinos don’t seem ready to put their travel plans on hold.

Singapore Airlines (SIA) continues to see strong appetite for travel from the Philippines, although passengers are becoming more conscious of how much they are getting for what they spend, according to Liwei Tai, the airline’s general manager for the Philippines.

“I think we see that people are still interested to travel. Perhaps there is a greater awareness now about the value that they get when they travel,” Tai told Rappler on Thursday, September 17.

Tai’s focus on value is unsurprising, as airlines are also grappling with higher fuel costs that can eventually translate into more expensive tickets.

SIA Group’s net fuel cost surged more than 78% year-on-year to S$2.25 billion in the April-to-June quarter, following the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East. But, it turns out, that hasn’t kept travelers from coming in droves: Singapore Airlines and its low-cost subsidiary Scoot carried a record 10.9 million passengers during the quarter, 6.3% more than a year earlier.

The trend continued into August. The two airlines carried 3.7 million passengers worldwide, up 3.6% year-on-year. And while those figures cover the global network and can’t be attributed specifically to Philippine routes, Singapore Airlines still has a bullish view of the local market.

“For the Philippines, we already added an additional flight out of Manila last year. We are very positive about the market, and we do see people are still very interested to travel,” Tai told Rappler. “We will continue to be here together with Scoot, also our subsidiary airline. We will want to continue to grow in the Philippines over time.”

The airline increased its Manila-Singapore service from four to five flights a day in May 2025, while Scoot launched flights between Singapore and Iloilo in April that year.

Philippine aviation data tell a similar broader story about Filipinos’ willingness to fly. Scheduled international airlines carried 15.27 million passengers to and from the Philippines in the first half of 2026, according to Civil Aeronautics Board data. That was already equivalent to about 52% of the 29.12 million international passengers recorded for the whole of 2025.

For travelers, then, pricier fuel may be changing the calculation more than cancelling the trip altogether.

Tai said SIA is seeing demand across a wide mix of travelers, from solo and business passengers to groups of friends and families, including several generations traveling together.

“We see now different kinds of traveler profiles. Of course, we have families, family with young children, especially in the Philippines, where family is so important, even multi generational travel. But even then, we have friends who are traveling together, even solo travelers, business travelers,” she said.

Beyond fares and flight options, Tai said SIA is also seeing improvements in the travel experience at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), now under private management by New NAIA Infra Corp. (NNIC). NAIA may still have a long runway before it can rival Singapore’s Changi Airport, but Tai said the changes are already becoming noticeable to passengers. (READ: Two years and billions later, has NAIA finally leveled up?)

“We do see the improvements as well,” she said, pointing to shorter queues and quicker baggage retrieval. “I think there is very close coordination between different parties to make that possible.”

SIA is also currently holding its latest Time to Fly Virtual Travel Fair with Mastercard, offering discounts of as much as 37% on flights to destinations including Singapore, Sydney, London, Paris, Los Angeles, Manchester, and Madrid. – Rappler.com