Two of the Philippines’ main air gateways — Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Manila and Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) — showed contrasting cargo performance for the first five months of 2015, according to latest data from the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) and Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA).

During the period, NAIA registered a 13 per cent growth in air cargo to 225,749 tonnes handled from January to May 2015, year-on-year.

Of the total, international cargo accounted for 64 per cent, or 144,275 tonnes, up 9.3 per cent from the same period a year earlier. Domestic cargo contributed 36 per cent or 81,473 tonnes, a 20.2 per cent rise year-on-year.

Flights to the country’s main air gateway increased 9.9 per cent to 53,792 flights, while passenger grew 20.2 per cent to 7.8 million passengers.

Meanwhile, in south-central Cebu, cargo volume handled by MCIA declined in the January-May 2015 period, largely due to declining volumes of domestic cargo at the Mactan airport. Overall airfreight dropped 18.9 per cent to 20,993 tonnes from 25.88 million for the period.

Domestic cargo accounted for the bulk of the total, with a 68.4 per cent share or 14,362 tonnes, which is a 27.3 per cent drop from last year. International cargo, which had a 27.3 per cent share of the total, grew eight per cent to 6,631 tonnes.

Flights during the period rose 2.3 per cent to 26,265 flights for the period and passenger traffic using the Visayan hub rose by 8.3 per cent to 3.32 million passengers in the first five months of 2015.