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Elijah Felice Rosales - The Philippine Star
February 6, 2025 | 12:00am
Sunlight currently operates a fleet of three 2-500s and is bringing in a 72-600 in March. Brito-Garcia said the carrier is capable of serving the demand for island flights with the four turboprops it owns.
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MANILA, Philippines — Boutique carrier Sunlight Air is planning to purchase its first jet soon as it continues to build up its fleet and route network as demand for air travel grows.
The airline, currently operating an all-turboprop fleet, is planning to procure a jetliner to scale up its efficiency when transporting passengers, according to Sunlight CEO Ryna Brito-Garcia.
“It is already something that we are discussing, but I just don’t want to celebrate ahead of time,” Brito-Garcia said on the sidelines of Sunlight’s rebranding event.
Sunlight currently operates a fleet of three 2-500s and is bringing in a 72-600 in March. Brito-Garcia said the carrier is capable of serving the demand for island flights with the four turboprops it owns.
However, Sunlight wants to maximize its opportunity in high-traffic islands that are already able to land jets such as Caticlan’s Godofredo P. Ramos Airport. Brito-Garcia also sees sustained demand for boutique flights from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), where turboprops will be prohibited by 2026.
“We are considering (acquiring a jet)of course because with the development of our country, we have to make tourism and travel more efficient,” Brito-Garcia said.
As for its network, Sunlight is studying possible entry into up-and-coming destinations such as Balabac in Palawan, Bantayan Island in Cebu and Siquijor.
To date, the airline offers flights to Cebu and Busuanga from Manila; to Busuanga, Caticlan and Siargao from Clark; and to Busuanga, Cagayan de Oro, and Siargao from Cebu.
In 2024, Sunlight flew more than 30,000 passengers and projects a 30 percent growth this year. Since its establishment in 2019, the carrier has flown over 500,000 travelers to some of the go-to islands in the Philippines, particularly Busuanga (Coron) and Caticlan (Boracay).
To support the transfer of its entire network to Clark, Brito-Garcia said the airline looks to bring in point-to-point services for passengers from the south of Metro Manila.
This is no longer a new business for Sunlight, as it also packages island transfers for guests headed to Boracay.
The slot regulator for NAIA has ordered all airlines to move their turboprops out of the gateway starting March 30 as part of efforts to maximize the single runway for larger aircraft.
The directive enforces a longer reprieve for boutique carriers with fewer than five turboprops, as they are given until 2026 to relocate their fleets elsewhere.
