Cebu Pacific bares Singapore service

Cebu Pacific Air (CEB) is scheduled to open its daily service between Manila and Singapore by Oct. 1, 2002, the company said in a statement yesterday.

Early bird flight 5J-803 will depart Manila at 7:30 a.m. and flight 5J-804 will leave Singapore at 12:05 p.m. As in its other regional services, CEB will use a 179-seater Boeing 757 aircraft to ply this route.

Manolo San Juan, CEB vice president for marketing, said this new service expands further the airline’s great value offer and distinct brand of warm and personalized service.

Seats for the Manila-Singapore service are already being sold by travel agents. San Juan said the airline is tapping the leisure market as well as overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). According to statistics from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA). 26,305 OFWs left the country for Singapore in 2001.

Not counting OFW arrivals, Singapore Tourism statistics pegged the Philippines as among the top 12 largest visitor generating markets in April and May 2002, with 21,411 tourist arrivals from the Philippines in May alone.

CEB began its regional expansion with twice-daily flights to Hong Kong in November 2001 and four times weekly service to Seoul in March 2002. The airline is also expecting its third Boeing 757 aircraft later this year to ensure an efficient regional service.