LISTED Cebu Air Inc., operator of budget airline Cebu Pacific (CEB), plans to increase domestic flights in the last quarter of the year by adding as much as 33-percent more seats compared with the same period last year.
“This is in line with CEB’s continued commitment to promote tourism and economy in the destinations it flies to. Foreign and local travelers can book with CEB to explore the Philippines’ top beaches and diving sites, and attend the country’s most popular fiestas,” said vice president for marketing and distribution Candice Iyog in a statement.
The company will take delivery new aircraft that will support the airline’s expansion plans. Three brand-new Airbus A320s will arrive in October. CEB said this will allow the airline to offer the lowest possible fares in the market and mount more domestic flights.
“We currently already offer the most flights and the lowest fares to Cebu and Davao, two key cities in the Visayas and Mindanao, compared with any other airline. Tourists will [soon] have faster, easier access to the most extensive route network in the country,” added Iyog.
With these flight increases, the airline will also continue to have the most flights to popular tourist destinations such as Boracay, Coron, Dumaguete and Cagayan de Oro.
Effective October 1, CEB will increase flight frequencies in the following routes: Manila-Butuan-Manila (2x to 3x daily); Manila-General Santos-Manila (2x to 3x daily); Manila-Tacloban-Manila (4x to 5x daily); Manila-Davao-Manila (from 45x to 49x weekly)
Effective October 7, the airline will increase flights to Manila-Davao-Manila (7x to 8x daily); Manila-Dumaguete-Manila (2x to 3x daily); Manila-Roxas-Manila (7x to 12x weekly); Cebu-Butuan-Cebu (7x to 11x weekly); Manila-Boracay (Caticlan)-Manila (86x to 91x weekly); Cebu-Dumaguete-Cebu (3x to 7x weekly); Cebu-Pagadian-Cebu (4x to 7x weekly).
On October 14, CEB flights will add more flights to the following routes: Manila-Cagayan de Oro-Manila (6x to 7x daily); Cebu-Davao-Cebu (24x to 28x weekly); Manila-Cebu-Manila (80x to 87x weekly); Manila-Coron (Busuanga)-Manila (2x to 3x daily); Manila-Boracay (Caticlan)-Manila (13x to 14x daily); Manila-Naga-Manila (3x to 4x daily).
Additional seats will be given to the following routes as CEB upgrades its route aircraft from an ATR 72-500 to an Airbus A319: Cebu-Ozamiz-Cebu (Daily); Manila-Tuguegarao-Manila (Daily); Cebu-Bacolod-Cebu (Daily); Cebu-Cagayan de Oro-Cebu (Daily); Cebu-Iloilo-Cebu (Daily); Cebu-Tacloban-Cebu (Daily).
CEB’s net income during the first quarter dropped to P1.2 billon from P1.56 billion in the same period last year mainly due to the rise in aviation fuel expenses. It carried 1.94 million passengers during the period out of the 2.39 seats it allocated, resulting in a load factor of 81 percent.
