Cebu Pacific vows to continue promoting domestic tourism

President Arroyo graced yesterday the 10th anniversary of Cebu Pacific Airways, whose officials pledged to help boost the country’s domestic tourism.

The President led the blessing of one of the airline’s six new Airbus A-320 jets delivered to them over the past several months.

Cebu Pacific Air Inc. president and chief operating officer Lance Gokongwei said the eight new Airbus jets will be delivered to them by Airbus Industrie over the next 12 months, completing a full re-fleeting project begun in the middle of last year.

"This is a major investment on the part of the airline and of the larger JG Summit Group to which it belongs — all of $670 million worth of new equipment," he said.

Gokongwei said his airline would continue supporting the promotion of domestic tourism by offering discounted airfares.

Cebu Pacific had sold out 154,000 tickets priced at P10 each for its 10th anniversary to Filipinos who snatched up the tickets in a week-long offer that ended last Thursday.

Gokongwei said Cebu Pacific would continue to make air travel more affordable to consumers.

The airline introduced discounted airfare sometime last year, slashing ticket prices by at least half for passengers who booked their seats months ahead. Gokongwei said this program will be part of the airline’s permanent offer.

"This is part of our re-education of air travelers," he said, explaining that the main thrust of the program was to inform passengers that air travel can be cheap if they book months in advance of planned travel.

President Arroyo has adopted a policy of "holiday economics" to encourage people to travel to various tourist destinations in the country. Under holiday economics, various holidays are extended or moved to the nearest weekend so that employees and students can join their families on three- or four-day vacations outside Metro Manila.

Cebu Pacific revolutionized air travel in the Philippines in 1996 by offering the lowest fares available at that time.

It said air travel in the country has grown by six percent per year since it entered the market.

Earlier, Gokongwei said its growing business could add more employment opportunities for Filipinos and uplift tourism in the country.

Cebu Pacific now has 80 daily flights to 16 domestic destinations and is the leading carrier for inter-island service, offering flights to and from several key points within Visayas and Mindanao.

Meanwhile, Gokongwei said Cebu Pacific is committed "in principle" to participating in the scheduled test run of the controversial Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 (NAIA-3) this year by the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA).