Cebu Pacific to add int’l, domestic flights

MANILA, Philippines – Budget airline Cebu Air Inc (Cebu Pacific) is beefing up its flights to 9 domestic and 3 international routes in time for the Christmas season.

The launch of additional routes is made possible with the arrival of a brand new Airbus A320 with Sharklets on November 9.

A Sharklet is a specialized winglet on the A320.

“This latest order allows us to meet our fleet expansion requirements and growing demand in the markets we serve,” Cebu Pacific vice president for corporate affairs Jorenz Tañada said.

The brand new Airbus A320 with Sharklets makes Cebu Pacific operate one of the youngest aircraft fleets in the world with an average age of 4.28 years,” Tañada added.

Starting December 15, Cebu Pacific will mount additional, twice weekly Manila-Cebu and Manila-Tuguegarao routes; thrice weekly flights for the Manila-Dumaguete route; and 4 times weekly flights for the Manila-Zamboanga route.

Likewise, passengers traveling from the Visayas region to Singapore could also expect additional weekly flights for the Iloilo-Singapore route between December 17 and January 14.

Cebu Pacific would also mount additional thrice weekly flights for the Cebu-Singapore route between December 19 and January 7.

The budget carrier would also utilize the large A330 aircraft for some of its Manila-Singapore flights from December 15 to January 9.

Cebu Pacific now operates a fleet of 52 aircraft of 10 Airbus A319, 29 A320, 5 A330, and 8 ATR-72 500 aircraft.

Cebu Pacific and Tiger Airways Philippines booked double-digit passenger volume growth in the first 8 months of the year with the launch of new routes and the arrival of new aircraft.

Cebu Pacific and Tigerair Philippines flew 11.26 million passengers from January to August or 14.6% higher compared to the 9.83 million passengers in the same period in 2013.

Likewise, the number of flights of the Gokongwei-led airlines inched up by 5.2% to 81,838 in the first 8 months of 2014, from 77,812 in the same period in 2013. – Rappler.com