The country’s two largest airlines said Wednesday they are expanding their domestic operations amid the relaxed travel restrictions.
Cebu Pacific said it would raise flight frequencies to Iloilo and Tacloban via its Cebu hub starting Aug. 5 as it continues to ramp-up its hubs outside Metro Manila.
It said weekly flight frequency for the Cebu-Iloilo route, will increase from 7 times to 9 times weekly as it flies twice daily on Fridays and Sundays. This provides Cebuano and Ilonggo passengers more options to fly between the two destinations for weekend trips or quick family visits.
The Cebu-Tacloban route will increase from 14 times to 16 times weekly, making its Monday and Friday schedules twice daily. This also gives passengers more choices on when they want to fly to Cebu or Tacloban for leisure or business travel.
“We are pleased to keep enabling everyJuan to easily fly across our widest domestic network as we continue to boost our network in the Visayas and Mindanao. We have seen consistent demand for these routes, and we hope to keep expanding our footprint as more people confidently fly again,” Cebu Pacific chief commercial officer Xander Lao said.
Cebu Pacific said it remains committed to maintaining passenger travel confidence as it highlights its achievement of attaining a 7-star safety rating from airlineratings.com for its COVID-19 compliance.
Philippine Airlines also announced the operation of additional flights between Manila and Basco (Batanes) by the end of July.
It said a new Sunday frequency from July 24 will bring PAL’s Manila–Basco–Manila services to four flights weekly or every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.
PAL said that beginning Aug. 2, the Manila-Basco-Manila services will increase to seven weekly flights, giving travelers a full week of daily morning departures from both Manila and Basco.
“We look forward to welcoming more passengers on board our nonstop PAL flights to and from Basco, with daily flights by August for the convenience of families and members of the local community as well as travelers who want to discover the wonders of Batanes,” PAL senior assistant vice president Harry Inoferio said.
“PAL will continue to add more flights on other domestic routes to meet the travel needs of the flying public and promote tourism, while always prioritizing safety and health concern,” he said.
