Low-cost carriers mount more int’l, domestic routes

MANILA, Philippines - Low-cost carriers are eyeing more international and domestic routes from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Manila and Mactan-Cebu International Airport in Cebu.

Budget airline Cebu Air Inc. (Cebu Pacific) of taipan John Gokongwei has asked the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) to allow it to impose fuel surcharge for new international routes particularly in Japan and Taipei.

Cebu Pacific said it intends to fly to Narita where it intends to impose a fuel surcharge of $71 per passenger as well as Taipei where passengers would be charged $34 from Cebu.

On the other hand, the low-cost carrier also intends to mount flights to Fukuoka via NAIA where it intends to impose a fuel surcharge of $48 per passenger.

Another Gokongwei-led airline also intends to mount flights to Butuan via Manila where it intends to impose a fuel surcharge of P500 per passenger.

Cebu Pacific spent $7 million to acquire the 40 percent share of Tiger Airways Singapore Pte. Ltd. and $8 million for the 60 percent owned by Filipino businessmen in Tiger Airways Philippines.

Cebu Pacific and Tigerair made further progress on their interline agreement with the first interline flights available for sale on the Tigerair website from July 23 and available on the website of Cebu Pacific starting September.

The interline agreement between Cebu Pacific and Tiger Airways Singapore Holdings Ltd. created the biggest network of flights from the Philippines to the Asia Pacific region.

Based on its latest operating statistics, Cebu Pacific and Tigerair Philippines flew 11.26 million passengers from January to August or 14.6 percent higher than the 9.83 million passengers carried in the same period last year.

The increase could be attributed to the increase in the number of aircraft to 50 compared to the a year-ago level of 46, resulting to a 13.7 percent increase in capacity to 13.34 million from 11.73 million.

Both Cebu Pacific and Tigerair Philippines expect to fly 17 million passengers this year. It is in the middle of a $4 billion refleeting program aimed at acquiring 49 brand new Airbus aircraft.

Meanwhile, AirAsia Zest intends to launch new routes from its Cebu and Kalibo hubs.

The low-cost carrier would fly to Davao and Cagayan de Oro from Cebu, imposing a fuel surcharge of P300 per passenger as well as to Davao from Kalibo where passengers would be charged P400.

AirAsia Zest chief executive officer Joy Cañeba said the low cost carrier is committed in connecting communities in the Philippines.

“With our newest routes between Cebu and Mindanao we would like to provide much-needed connections and tap into underserved markets, grow it, as there is definitely great tourism and business potentials between these awesome cities. Let’s paint these cities red and make traveling more affordable, fun, convenient, reliable and on time,” she said.

AirAsia Zest also services flights from Cebu to Manila, Incheon/Seoul, South Korea and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

“This is just the beginning of our new plans for Cebu as we are set to expand our presence here with new international direct flights and offer ‘fly-thru’ products to connect all Filipinos to the rest of AirAsia Group’s massive network covering over 88 destinations stretching across China, India and Australia,” Cañeba added.

Philippines’ AirAsia and Zest Airways of Ambassador Alfredo Yao entered into a strategic alliance agreement last year, allowing the former to acquire an 85 percent economic interest and 49 percent voting rights in ZestAir as well as a 100 percent interest in Yao’s Asiawide Airways Inc.

In exchange, Yao’s ZestAir got $16 million as well as a 13 percent interest in AirAsia. Since then, the airline has been rebranded AirAsia Zest.