MANILA, Philippines - Airphil Express corroborates its claim as the fastest growing budget airline in the country today via the continued expansion of its Cebu hub. Starting Feb. 9, passengers can now fly from Cebu to Cotabato, Cebu to Kalibo, Cebu to Legazpi, Cebu to Surigao and Cebu to Pagadian and vice versa on all flights via Airphil Express.
The additional five routes bring the current total number of Airphil Express’s Cebu hub flights to 14, making the Queen City of the South a major hub for the budget carrier.
“The move is seen to boost the number of flyers availing the services of Airphil Express,” says Alfredo Herrera, senior vice president for sales and marketing. “With more additions to the number of routes and frequencies in daily flights in the pipeline, we are anticipating about 100 percent increase in the number of passengers this year or 8 million flyers in 2012.”
Airphil Express also experienced a remarkable growth in its customer base last year. From 2010’s 1.8 million, it ballooned to more than 122 percent in 2011.
“We don’t only advertise the new routes, for instance, Caticlan. We also promote the experience behind a Boracay trip. That is, we hype up its food, its people and its culture,” Herrera explains. “Our Boracay route was a huge success because we marketed that route as part of our Adventours Package.”
While Airphil Express also considers its much-anticipated regular Express Sales as a key contributor to the growth, it prefers to give more credit to its excellent customer service. “We also offer other intangibles like listening to the consumers and satisfying their needs. We were the first to offer the 24/7 customer support service,” he says.
Airphil Express is also continuously expanding its fleet. This year, it will add three 180-seater Airbus 320s, which can fly at a longer flight distance with lesser fuel consumption. This brings the total number of Airphil Express aircrafts to 11 Airbus 320, three Q300s and five Q400s.
The Cebu hub of Airphil Express is a separate hub dedicated to the city because of the immense volume of passengers shuttling in the region. The Cebu to Dumaguete and General Santos routes fly three times weekly while the Cebu to Dipolog and Puerto Princesa routes fly four times weekly. There are also daily services from Cebu to Butuan.
One other first in the company’s online service is the manage booking feature, which allows Airphil Express passengers to make flight adjustments like rescheduling and rerouting of previously booked tickets through www.airphilexpress.com.