Two new China carriers start flights from Cebu airport

MANILA, Philippines — GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. (GMCAC), the private company managing the terminal operations and other related areas of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA), has welcomed two new Chinese carriers that recently launched direct flights to Guangzhou and Shanghai.

GMR-Megawide said China Southern Airlines started the Cebu-Guangzhou direct route last Jan. 22. It will fly thrice weekly every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday using a Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

China Southern Airlines operates two hubs in Guangzhou and Beijing.

Meanwhile, Juneyao Airlines launched its Cebu-Shanghai Pudong flight on Jan. 24, with thrice weekly flights every Tuesday Thursday, and Saturday.

It will utilize an Airbus A320 with a capacity of 158 passengers, with business and economy accommodations.

Juneyao is a privately-owned airline and operates two hubs at Shanghai Pudong and Shanghai Hongqiao airports.

Currently, scheduled flights from MCIA connect to seven destinations in mainland China, namely Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chongqing, Fuzhou, Xiamen, Kunming and Shenzhen.

Charter flights are also available during the peak season, according to GMR-Megawide.

MCIA is connected to 32 domestic destinations and 20 international destinations, with eight Philippine-based airline partners and 18 foreign airline partners.

In November last year, MCIA was named Asia Pacific Medium Airport of the Year by the CAPA–Center for Aviation.

MCIA was selected among airports with over 10 million annual passengers for “having been the biggest standout strategically, has established itself as a leader and done the most to advance the progress of the aviation industry.”

In 2016, MCIA was named Asia Pacific Small Airport of the Year, just two years after GMCAC assumed landside operations under a 25-year public-private partnership agreement.