PAL ups ante in budget travel with low-cost Cebu, Davao flights

MANILA, Philippines - Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) upped the ante in the low-cost carrier (LCC) market offering highly competitive rates for flights to Cebu and Davao.

Airphil Express, one of five LCCs or budget airlines in the country, started its Cebu and Davao routes last Wednesday, offering rock-bottom rates of P600 and P800 for one-way flights, respectively, plus 15 kilograms of free luggage to passengers.

Starting Sept. 1, the free luggage cargo limit would increase to 20 kilograms.

The budget carrier has a fleet of eight Bombardier Q400, the world’s fastest turboprop, and three Bombardier Q300, lauded in world aviation as one of the best turboprops ever. For major airports, it fields the Airbus A320, one of the world’s safest narrow-body aircraft.

Airphil Express would also acquire four more A320 this year, four in 2011 and six more in 2013, according to Brian Hogan, the firm’s chief executive adviser, during the flight launch to Cebu and Davao at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3.

He said he expects the Philippines to post between six to seven percent growth in air travel this year. “There would be double-digit growth for airlines in the next few years and the LCCs would be there so support that expansion.”

Asked how the company intends to compete when there are already other LCCs sharing a bigger slice of the air traveler’s pie, Hogan, who had 30 years experience in aviation, having been an executive of Tiger Air and Cebu Pacific, said that the company intends to open more “missionary routes” such as El Nido in Palawan, Tawi-Tawi, Jolo, Basco in Batanes and many more local destinations now served by roll-on, roll-off (ro-ro) vessels.

The country’s LCCs are aggressively promoting air travel by acquiring new and more fuel-efficient aircraft, more opening destinations and offering other perks in the hope of luring travelers who still prefer buses or ships.

The Philippines is one market that is ripe for LCC growth, not only because it has a population of some 90 million but also because of its scattered geography of 7,100 islands, introducing more passengers to the comfort, safety and speed of air travel, according Hogan.

He said Australia, with a population of 25 million, draws in 40 million passengers annually, Thailand, 25 million air travelers; and the material markets of Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan with a yearly passenger volume of over 60 million passengers.