CEBU, Philippines — Cebu Pacific Air (CEB) vowed to open more flights from Cebu to different destinations here and abroad this year, banking on the province’s rising demand for air connectivity.
In her recent visit to Cebu, CEB vice president for marketing and customer experience Candice Iyog announced that the airline will be more active in Cebu starting this year, supporting Cebu’s position as the country’s gateway to Conde Nast recognized islands.
Last year, CEB passenger traffic to and from Cebu grew by 20 percent from its 29 domestic and international direct flights.
Iyog said CEB will promote Cebu as the Philippines’ beach hub, hinting that the airline will open more flights connecting Cebu to world-class beach islands around the country.
Cebu Air Inc. is the largest carrier in the Philippine air transportation industry, offering its low-cost services to more destinations and routes with higher flight frequency within the Philippines than any other airline.
CEB and subsidiary Cebgo fly to 37 domestic and 25 international destinations, with over 120 routes.
The Gokongwei-owned airline network operates flights out of seven strategically placed hubs in the Philippines: Clark, Davao, Cagayan de Oro (Laguindingan), Kalibo, Cebu, Iloilo and Manila.
Meanwhile, Iyog also announced that Cebu Pacific moves its organic Ticket Office from Robinsons Fuente Circle to Robinsons Galleria Cebu; with the goal of giving customers more convenient and accessible means to book a flight and facilitate other transactions.
Located on the 4th floor of Robinsons Galleria, the new office highlights CEB’s newly-installed customer flow management systems in order to expedite bookings and additional transactions. Moreover, the new location also has express counters and 6 intuitive self-booking kiosks to give customers an elevated ticket office experience.
These self-service kiosks allow users to book and pay for flights without having to line up for agent assistance. Besides booking flights, the kiosks can also process additional transactions such as booking changes, processing travel funds, and credit card payments.
Processes and operations are expected to be more efficient with the newly-equipped cloud-based Queue Management System (QMS) which regularly keeps track of customers’ waiting times, allowing for manpower to maximize prioritization and reception on rate of demand.
“Elevating the customer experience is our number one priority in all our operations. With the high-volume of passengers to and from Cebu that are expected to arise this year, especially in preparation for the upcoming Sinulog festival, we are doubling down on better systems and processes to make booking flights as easy and as seamless as possible,” said Iyog.
The Cebu Pacific fleet is comprised 75 aircraft—four (4) Airbus A321NEO, four (4) A320NEO, seven (7) Airbus A321CEO, 31 Airbus A320, eight (8) A330, seven (7) ATR 72-500, 13 ATR 72-600, and an ATR Cargo Freighter. CEB boasts of one of the youngest fleets in the world, with an average fleet age of five years.
A member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Cebu Pacific has achieved full compliance with IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA)—considered as the benchmark of the highest standards for safety in the airline industry, joining a roster of 429 airlines worldwide that have strictly complied with the most stringent of international standards governing aviation safety.