CEB expands Cebu ticketing office

CEBU, Philippines - As Cebu continues to attract more domestic and foreign tourists, one of the country’s largest flag carriers, Cebu Pacific (CEB) has expanded its ticketing office facility in Cebu.

The airline’s ticketing office located at the Robinson’s Cebu ground can now accommodate a total of 450 customers a day from the previous 212 transactions that the facility can serve previously.

 “We recognized the growing market in Cebu. We have noted a significant increase of passenger booking transactions in here,” said CEB corporate communications manager Don Romulo Gregorio Orense, during the formal opening of the bigger ticketing office.

According to Orense, aside from CEB’s continues effort to open up more flights to other provinces in the Philippines, making Cebu as a hub, the airline’s low cost fare campaign has also encourage more Filipinos to travel by air, rather than other transportation modes.

“We are already competing with ships, and buses, including the ferry market,” said Orense.

Although, the CEB is also popular in its online booking system, Orense said there is still a large number of people who transact their bookings personally. This includes also some foreign tourists.          

About 40 of the airline’s ticketing transaction is now generated through online bookings. The 60 percent is shared by travel agents, bookings made from its call center, and the ticketing office.

In Cebu, the Gokongwei-owned airline has two ticketing office—Robinsons and at the Mactan International Airport.

“We are always on the lookout to improve our guest’s experience, from the time they purchase a ticket online or through a ticketing office, to check-in and the actual flight. CEB is excited to be of service to even more Cebuanos,” said CEB vice president for marketing and distribution Candice Iyog.

Cebu Pacific is serving a total of 80 flights a day from Cebu to Manila, Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro, Caticlan (Boracay), Clark, Davao, Dipolog, Dumaguete, General Santos, Iloilo, Legazpi, Ozamiz, Pagadian, Puerto Princesa, Siargao, Surigao, Tacloban, and Zamboaga.

From Cebu, CEB has also daily flight schedule to Singapore and Hong Kong.

The airline also operates the most number of turbo-prop flights out of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport. These routes utilize 100 percent brand-new ATR 72-500 aircraft from Toulouse, France of which CEB has eight in its aircraft fleet.

“Cebu Pacific has been playing a big role in Philippine tourism, by opening destinations such as Siargao and Pagadian to air travel, and by consistently forcing competition to lower fares whenever it enters the market such as what happened in Boracay [Caticlan]” Iyog said.