(FILE) Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 in Pasay City. INQUIRER PHOTO / RICHARD A. REYES
MANILA, Philippines — Almost 146,000 left the country during the holiday season, said the Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Tuesday.
In a statement, BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said a total of 145,900 passengers left the country this December.
He said Filipinos topped the list with 117,795 departures, followed by American nationals at 7,776, Indian nationals at 2,908, Chinese nationals at 2,509, and Japanese nationals at 2,190.
Despite this, Morente noted the relatively low number of international travel during the holiday season.
“The usual busy Christmas Eve and Christmas Day still had a low number of travelers,” said Morente.
“But we’re happy to be seeing better figures than last year,” he added.
During Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, the BI shared that it processed only around 7,000 departing travelers, doubling 2020 figures of 3,854.
“The number of international travelers remains low despite the holiday season,” said Morente.
“By the end of the year, we’re expecting the numbers to rise a little, perhaps around 20 to 50 thousand more passengers, but we’re still not seeing pre-pandemic figures,” he added.
According to Morente, the low number of travelers is an effect of worldwide travel restrictions and quarantine requirements, many of which are due to the COVID-19 Omicron variant.
RELATED STORIES
Over 7,000 flights scrapped as Omicron hits Christmas weekend travel
World set to ring in another pandemic Christmas