Airlines bare operational expansion plans in MCIA

CEBU, Philippines — As commercial operations of Mactan-Cebu International Airport's Terminal 2 starts on July 1, several airlines have announced operational expansion plans in their Cebu hubs.

Cathay Pacific Airways will fly twice daily from Cebu to Hong Kong starting July, said Connie Cimafranca, the firm's communications head for southern Philippines, in an interview Wednesday.

She said this will bring the Hong Kong flag carrier's weekly flights from Cebu to 14 from the current 12.

In the same interview, Harry Inoferio, senior assistant vice president for Visayas-Mindanao sales at Philippines Airlines, said the flag carrier is considering to relaunch its Cebu-Los Angeles flights with the "right equipment."

He said the company had started receiving medium range aircraft but said long-haul flights usually require long range.

The airline is expecting the delivery of new aircraft by end of this year, he said.

"That's (Cebu-LA) in mind. We know there's a strong demand from Cebu. And we're addressing that," the official said.

May 30 last year, PAL temporarily suspended its Cebu-LA route saying it was implementing "operational adjustments." It launched the said route in December 2016.

He said the company is continuously studying the viability of mounting future flights from Cebu.

From Cebu, PAL flies directly to international destinations such as Singapore, Thailand, Incheon, Beijing and Chengdu.

In an earlier interview with Cebu Pacific CEO Lance Gokongwei, he announced the budget carrier will increase flights from Cebu with the new international passenger terminal of Mactan Airport.

In particular, Gokongwei said the company will add more routes from Cebu to North Asia to serve the big market in China, Korea and Japan.

Likewise, Philippines Air Asia CEO Dexter Comendador also said in a recent interview the carrier sees huge potential in its Cebu hub, noting the new terminal will allow it to "increase capacity."

The Malaysian carrier earlier announced it is moving all its international flights from Cebu to Terminal 2.

He said the new terminal will provide the company a great capacity for long-term growth.

The airport's T2, inaugurated last June 7, will exclusively cater to international flights to and from Cebu.

MCIA's T2 is expected to cater to 12.5 million passengers annually.