Cebu Pacific to hike flight frequencies by 18% this year

MANILA, Philippines - Gokongwei-owned budget airline Cebu Pacific (CEB) plans to increase its flight frequencies by 18 percent in 2011, making available a total of 14.5 million airline seats for its passengers.

“We aim to fly 12 million passengers in 2011, an 18-percent increase from last year’s targets. Internationally, we plan to grow our passenger base by 35 percent,” CEB vice president for marketing and distribution Candice Iyog said.

The airline said it is factoring in an expected 20-percent increase in passengers to Greater China, for its Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Taipei, Macau and Hong Kong routes. CEB currently flies 80 times weekly from the Philippines to Greater China.

“We have also just recently announced the beginning of CEB’s Manila-Busan operations this June. We already fly to South Korea’s second largest city from Cebu, and this new route will allow more tourism and business between the two countries,” Iyog added.

She said that the number of flights to Beijing and Guangzhou will also be increased this year to accommodate passenger demand.

CEB has already added flights to Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Brunei, Singapore, Ho Chi Minh and Jakarta last December. It is slated to increase flight frequencies to Seoul (Incheon) and Bangkok in the first quarter this year.

“We are expecting the delivery of our 25th brand-new Airbus A320 aircraft in the last week of January, and four more brand-new aircraft in 2011,” Iyog said.

By the end of 2011, CEB will be operating a fleet of 37 aircraft – with an average age of less than 2.5 years – one of the most modern aircraft fleets in the world. Between 2012 and 2014, it will take an additional 16 Airbus A320 aircraft.

The first low-cost carrier in Asia, CEB currently operates over 260 flights daily to 16 international destinations and 33 domestic destinations. It flew almost 10.5 million passengers in 2010, exceeding targets with a 19-percent increase over 2009. Its international passengers also grew 38 percent in 2010.