Cebu Pacific said it is adding capacity in key hubs to address the increasing demand from tourists and business travellers.
The airline, owned by industrialist John Gokongwei, said the increases were a combination of additional flights and the upgrade of aircraft with more seats.
In its Cebu hub, Cebu Pacific has increased the weekly frequency of flights to and from Cagayan de Oro (Laguindingan), Dumaguete, Siargao, Iloilo, Caticlan (Boracay), Ozamiz and Zamboanga by an average 63 percent starting on April 15.
Flights between Manila and Cebu also expanded 24 percent.
The increase in flights from the Cebu hub is on top of its six-times-weekly Cebu-Shanghai and Shanghai-Cebu routes, which began on April 15.
Cebu Pacific earlier said it would expand capacity in the Cebu hub by as much as 20 percent in 2019.
The carrier is positioning Cebu as its beach hub—with strategic connections to foremost vacation destinations, such as Siargao, Camiguin, Puerto Princesa and Caticlan (Boracay). From Cebu, CEB also mounts direct flights to Bacolod, Butuan, Cagayan de Oro, Calbayog, Clark, Davao, Dumaguete, General Santos, Kalibo, Legazpi, Pagadian, Surigao, Tacloban, Hong Kong, Macau, Tokyo (Narita), Singapore and Incheon.
For the Clark hub, Cebu Pacific also increased the capacity of flights to and from Caticlan (Boracay) by 231 percent—shifting from the 78-seat ATR 72-600 aircraft to the Airbus A320.
The carrier earlier announced it would launch daily flights between Clark and Iloilo; Clark and Bacolod; as well as Clark and Narita, starting August 9, 2019; and daily flights between Clark and Puerto Princesa starting October 9, 2019.
“We are now in a position to allot aircraft to expand key routes in our other hubs. We are excited over the prospects for growth and will continue to roll out new routes when the opportunities arise,” said vice president for commercial planning of Cebu Pacific Alexander Lao.
Meanwhile, Cebu Pacific will mount an additional daily flight between Manila and Bangkok, starting on April 28, raising capacity by 41 percent.
