Cebu Pacific upsizes aircraft for Visayas

MANILA, Philippines — Budget carrier Cebu Pacific has upgraded its aircraft flying to three destinations in Visayas and Mindanao to the bigger Airbus A320neo to support the resurgent demand for domestic travel.

Cebu Pacific announced over the weekend that flights headed for Tacloban, Dumaguete and Butuan will be serviced by A320neo to make sure the airline can accommodate the growing volume of passengers in the Philippines.

The A320neo can be considered an environmental aircraft given that it emits less fuel and decreased noise.

Cebu Pacific chief commercial officer Xander Lao said the upgrade to A320neo means that the Gokongwei airline can offer additional seats for its flights to Tacloban, Dumaguete and Butuan. The A320neo features a total of 188 seats equipped with USB ports that passengers may use to charge their phones in flight.

“We recently added more seats using our new A320neo as we see an increasing demand. This upgrade will accommodate more passengers and carry more cargo,” Lao said.

“We are the airline that serves these three destinations the most, which encourages trade and tourism in the Visayas and Mindanao,” he said.

Cebu Pacific operates the largest domestic network in the country covering 34 local destinations on top of its 18 international routes.

The firm manages a fleet with 78 aircraft – including two dedicated ATR freighters – one of the youngest fleets worldwide, with the goal of going all-neo by 2027.

At present, Cebu Pacific sends out planes six times daily from Manila to Tacloban. For the Cebu to Tacloban route, the airline firm flies thrice every Monday and Friday and twice every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

Similarly, Cebu Pacific operates the Manila-Dumaguete and vice versa route four times daily. On the other hand, the airline flies through the Cebu-Dumaguete corridor twice every Monday, Thursday and Friday and once every Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday.

The budget carrier also runs the Manila to Butuan route six times every day and operates Cebu to Butuan thrice every Wednesday and Sunday and twice for the rest of the week.

Cebu Pacific hopes to fly some 16 million passengers for the year as part of its long-term target to hit its pre-pandemic record of around 21 million in 2019.