MANILA, Philippines - Budget airline Cebu Air Inc. (Cebu Pacific) is set to launch more flights to the cities of Cebu, Roxas and Bacolod in the Visayas from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) starting next month to cope with higher passenger volume expected in the fourth quarter.
The low-cost carrier controlled by the family of taipan John Gokongwei said it would fly 13 times instead of seven times a week between Manila and Roxas, as well as 128 times instead of 114 times between Manila and Cebu from Oct. 9 to Dec. 3.
Likewise, Cebu Pacific is flying 49 times instead of 42 times weekly between Manila and Bacolod from Oct. 26 to Dec. 3.
Candice Iyog, vice president for marketing of Cebu Pacific, said the additional flights would give passengers more options for the three domestic routes in the Visayas.
“Cebu Pacific continues to study opportunities to stimulate travel to and from the Visayas. We believe that air travel brings convenient accessibility not just for the tourism sector, but also for the business sector,” Iyog said.
Aside from the three destinations the airline also operates flights to 31 other domestic and 28 international routes. It also flies to Caticlan, Dumaguete, Kalibo, Iloilo, Tacloban and Tagbilaran in the Visayas.
Cebu Pacific is expanding its hub in Cebu as the ongoing P17.5-billion expansion project would increase the capacity of the Mactan-Cebu international airport expansion project by 78 percent.
Jorenz Tanada, vice president for corporate affairs of Cebu Pacific, earlier said the Mactan-Cebu international airport serves as a very important hub for the low-cost carrier as it started operations in the country’s second largest gateway since 1996.
“We are always looking for opportunities for growth. Reviewing our network plans in Cebu includes the possibility of mounting more flights,” Tanada said in a text message.
The airline currently operates 27 routes from Cebu to other domestic and international destinations. It has an extensive network serving 59 domestic routes and 36 international routes with a total of 2,403 scheduled weekly flights from six hubs including NAIA, Mactan-Cebu International Airport, Clark International Airport, Davao International Airport, Iloilo International Airport and Kalibo International Airport.
The tandem of Filipino-owned Megawide Construction Corp. and Bangalore-based GMR Infrastructure is undertaking the country’s first airport Public-Private Partnership (PPP) project to increase the annual passenger capacity of the international gateway to eight million from the current 4.5 million.