Cebu Air Inc., the operator of Cebu Pacific and Cebgo, is adding 10 aircraft to its fleet in 2019 for new international routes.
“Next year, we’re adding 10 aircraft. So, we’re gonna start the new areas… North Asia, especially, Chinese… to connect to the Philippines,” Cebu Pacific president and chief executive Lance Gokongwei said.
“I think, there’s gonna be large opportunities to connect the secondary cities in China outside the Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai,” he said.
Gokongwei said the airline planned to fly to Chengdu and Xi An in China.
Data from the Tourism Department showed the number of Chinese arrivals to the Philippines in 2017 rose 43 percent to 968,447.
Cebu Pacific earlier said it was on track to meet the target of 22 million passengers this year on strong domestic economy.
“I think the Philippine economy continues to remain very vibrant with increasing income. Likewise, increasing interest from foreign tourists to visit the sites of the Philippines,” Gokongwei said.
“Even with closure of Boracay we’re seeing tremendous growth in tourism, double-digit so you can imagine the increase when it reopens,” he added
Cebu Pacific is the market leader with a 42-percent of total seat capacity in Caticlan, the gateway to Boracay. This includes a 14-percent share of its turboprop subsidiary Cebgo and 28 percent of its main jet operation.
Data from the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation showed about one million of the 6.6 million overseas visitors to the Philippines in 2017 stopped in Boracay.
Boracay is popular with Chinese and South Korean visitors, the largest markets for the Philippine tourism industry.
The carrier operates out of seven hubs in the Philippines—Manila, Clark, Cebu, Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Kalibo and Iloilo.
Between 2018 and 2022, the airline expects delivery of six additional Airbus A321ceo, 32 Airbus A321neo and eight ATR 72-600.