Cebu Pacific not keen on expanding long haul network

MANILA, Philippines — Cebu Pacific will keep its flights short for the meantime, saying it has no immediate plans to expand its long-haul network or make a comeback to the US.

Cebu Pacific president and chief executive officer Lance Gokongwei said the airline has no intentions to expand at the moment its long haul portfolio outside of its existing long duration destinations.

“Our intention is really to support our low cost strategy, which is really focused on short haul routes,” Gokongwei said.

Gokongwei said the furthest route that Cebu Pacific is flying to at present is Dubai. “There’s no intention to add to our network beyond that distance,” he said.

Among the long haul destinations being eyed previously by Cebu Pacific were Honolulu in the US and New Zealand.

The airline in 2019 stopped its operations in Guam to further optimize its slots.

Guam was the first and only US territory to which Cebu Pacific flew into. It started its Manila-Guam route in March 2016.

Prior to the suspension of all of its regular flights due to the pandemic, Cebu Pacific operated 25 international routes.

As of end-2021, the airline operated a network of 14 international routes.

Gokongwei earlier said international travel would probably take a while to recover compared to domestic travel.

While Cebu Pacific expects to restore 100 percent of its pre-pandemic domestic capacity this quarter, he said international travel may return to normal early next year, depending on various restrictions imposed by different countries.

Gokongwei said that Cebu Pacific is on growth mode at present, with the airline focused on bringing back capacity.

“We are hiring back a lot of our cabin crew and a lot of our pilots. Our intention is to grow and we intend to do so in a very productive and digital manner,” he said.

Cebu Pacific expects reduced losses this year, with revenues seen getting back to 60 to 70 percent of where it was in 2019 for the remaining quarters as domestic travel continues to show signs of recovery.