Cebu Pac beefs up flights to cope with strong demand

MANILA, Philippines - Budget airline Cebu Air Inc., the operator of the Cebu Pacific brand of taipan John L. Gokongwei, is beefing up its flights to selected international and domestic destinations due to strong demand during the summer season. 

Candice Iyog, vice president for marketing and distribution of Cebu Pacific, said in a statement that the low-cost carrier is increasing the number of flights to Hong Kong, Kalibo, Bacolod, Iloilo, Cotabato, Gen.Santos and Davao starting May.

 â€œWe hope these additional flights will allow even more tourists and guests to have fun during their vacations and visits home. Cebu Pacific will continue to make destinations that can drive tourism growth, accessible with its extensive network, modern aircraft fleet and trademark lowest fares,” Iyog stressed.

 The airline mounts up to four additional weekly flights between Manila and Kalibo, and re-introduces a daily Kalibo-Cebu service, to better accommodate guests using Kalibo as the gateway to world-renowned Boracay Island.

 Those bound for Hong Kong could also take advantage of five more flights from Manila starting May 9, an increase from 54 to 59 weekly flights.

 Aside from Manila, Cebu Pacific flies direct to Hong Kong from Cebu, Clark and Iloilo.

 Meanwhile, guests could also maximize their summer vacation with additional flights daily to Bacolod and Iloilo, four times a week to Cotabato and General Santos, three times to Davao, and once a week in San Jose.

 Iyog added that the airline is set to fly to Masbate from Cebu on June 1, to Taipei on July 5, and to Dubai on Oct. 7.

 Data released by Cebu Pacific showed that the airline serviced 3.53 million passengers from January to March this year, or 160,000 more than the 3.37 million passengers it serviced in the same period last year.

 The increase was attributed to the increase in the number of passengers availing of seat sales, increased routes and flight frequencies and sustained promotions.

 Cebu Pacific booked an 11 percent growth in volume of passengers to 13.26 million last year from 11.93 million in 2011 on the back of robust domestic and international operations brought about by aggressive sales promotions.

 It accepted the delivery of its 43rd aircraft – a new Airbus 320 equipped with fuel-saving wing tip device known as “Sharklets” – last March 7 from the Airbus facility in Hamburg, Germany.  

The airline’s fleet now includes 25 Airbus A320, 10 A319 aircraft and eight ATR 72-500 aircraft. It operates the most extensive network in the Philippines and has hubs in Manila, Cebu, Clark, Iloilo, Kalibo and Davao.

 Cebu Pacific is scheduled to take the delivery of 51 more aircraft between 2013 and 2021

 The airline booked a net income of P3.57 billion last year or 1.5 percent lower than the P3.624 billion recorded in 2011 while revenues grew 11.7 percent to P37.9 billion from P33.93 billion on the back of higher passenger as well as cargo revenues.