Cebu Pac taps Kalibo as 6th hub

MANILA, Philippines - Gokongwei-owned Cebu Air Inc. (Cebu Pacific) has transformed Kalibo in Aklan as its sixth hub in the Philippines as it launched direct flights from Davao to both Kalibo and Puerto Princesa providing invaluable linkages to three major tourist destinations.

Candice Iyog, vice president for marketing and distribution of Cebu Pacific, said in a statement that the airline currently offers 63 domestic routes to 32 domestic destinations through several hubs including Manila, Cebu, Clark, Davao, and Iloilo.

 “With Kalibo as our sixth hub, Cebu Pacific continues to play its part in upholding the country’s tourism agenda, and making air travel affordable and accessible to even more Filipinos,” Iyog stressed.

With the launch of four weekly flights from Kalibo to Davao, Cebu Pacific also bolsters its extensive Philippine route network with a sixth hub in Kalibo.

From Kalibo, the airline currently operates thrice weekly flights to Hong Kong and 30 weekly flights to Manila, as well as chartered flights from Kalibo to Taipei and Incheon in Seoul.

She pointed out that Cebu Pacific would fly from Davao to Puerto Princesa and Boracay. Both routes would be available as a four times weekly service using brand-new Airbus A320 aircraft fleet.

Cebu Pacific is slated to launch the following flights Cebu-Coron, Tacloban-Legazpi on Oct. 4, Davao-Butuan, Davao-Dipolog, Tacloban-Iloilo on Oct. 5, Cagayan de Oro – Zamboanga on Oct. 20.

The airline would also launch new routes out of Western Visayas including Iloilo-Hong Kong, Iloilo-General Santos on November 8 and Iloilo-Singapore, Iloilo-Puerto Princesa, Cagayan de Oro – Bacolod on November 9.

The largest airline operating out of Davao and Puerto Princesa, It is the first and the only airline with direct flights from Palawan to Western Visayas and Mindanao. It is also the pioneer in connecting Western Visayas to Mindanao through air travel.

Cebu Pacific is scheduled to begin long-haul services in the third quarter of next year.

It is selling its entire fleet of 10 Airbus A319 to Nasdaq-listed Allegiant Travel Company as part of the airline’s efforts to upgrade to a bigger and newer fleet.

Cebu Pacific currently operates a fleet of 38 aircrafts with an average age of 3.6 years consisting of 10 Airbus A319s, 20 Airbus A320s, and eight ATR-72 500 aircraft. It is spending close to $1 billion next year for its re-fleeting program.