MANILA, Philippines – After moving its domestic operations to the newly opened Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3, Cebu Pacific Airlines (CEB) will also transfer its international flight operations to the controversial airport starting Aug. 1.
In a statement, Cebu Pacific president and chief executive officer Lance Gokongwei said the entire domestic and international operations of the airline will operate out of the “state-of-the-art airport” for the convenience of local and foreign travelers.
Cebu Pacific, the Philippines’ largest domestic carrier, started its domestic operations at NAIA-3 last July 22.
“NAIA-3’s opening is a welcome development for us, especially since we have outgrown both the domestic passenger terminal and NAIA-1. As the country’s fastest growing airline, we are very pleased to be offering our passengers a much improved airport facility,” Gokongwei said.
CEB expects to carry seven million passengers this year, compared to almost 5.5 million passengers last year. In 1996, when CEB first started its operations, the total number of travelers flying within the country stood at 4.67 million.
This has more than doubled in 2007, and now numbers over 10.4 million passengers.
Among the advantages provided to CEB by the new terminal are a spacious check-in area, 28 modern counters allocated to the airline compared to 22 counters at the cramped check-in section of the Old Domestic Airport terminal, and nine boarding gates from the usual four.
CEB operates 33 routes through its 24 domestic destinations, with 848 domestic flights per week. The airline also operates 19 international routes to 16 cities in Asia, with 230 international flights per week.
“Now that we will be flying both domestic and international services under one roof, we will be able to see some operational efficiencies and offer our passengers an even better product,” Gokongwei said.
Now on its 13th year, CEB has the youngest aircraft fleet in the Philippines, comprised of 10 A319s, eight A320s, and two ATR72-500s. – Rudy Santos, Rainier Allan Ronda