Airline tycoon Lucio Tan has been riding high amid the recovery of the travel industry

This story is part of Forbes’ coverage of Philippines Regist 2022. See the full list over here.

Billionaire Pike Tan He returns to the driver’s seat. His fortune rose to $2 billion after controlling for the boom in international travel, which led to the recovery of the airline’s PAL Holdings.

Accelerating passenger and cargo sales tripled PAL’s first-half revenue to 58.1 billion pesos ($1.1 billion) from a year earlier, with a net profit of 4.2 billion pesos. Flag carrier owner Philippine Airlines is back in the black in 2021, largely due to demand for cargo services due to the pandemic. It is also strengthening its business, including launching a new Cargo website and app.

PAL emerged from bankruptcy proceedings four months after filing for Chapter 11 in New York. During the restructuring, he restored aircraft, canceled redundant routes, reduced debt by $2 billion and increased capital. Chairman and CEO Tan himself entered into a $505 million debt-to-equity swap. As the company celebrates its 81st anniversary in March, he said, “We look forward to a comeback year for Philippine Airlines and our country.” Global air traffic and capacity is expected to reach three-quarters of pre-pandemic levels this year, according to the World Air Transport Association.

Earlier this year, Tan appointed his son-in-law Stanley Ng, a former PAL pilot, as president and chief operating officer. Separately, he named his grandson Lucio Tan III (a PAL board director) as vice chairman of the LT Group. The listed company, which has interests in banking, tobacco and real estate, posted sales of 91.2 billion pesos last year.