DAVAO CITY, Philippines ? Businessmen from the south no longer have to worry about keeping up with their appointments with business partners in the north as low fare airline Airphil Express announced the opening of its red eye flights from Cebu and Davao starting this week.

Maria Java, Airphil Express head of marketing, media and product, said the new Davao night flight was only the first that they would open in Davao within 2010. From only one Davao flight a day, the company will open another flight in October and a third Davao flight before the end of the year to meet the growing passenger demand.

?We will be adding two more daily flights later in the year,? Java said, as she noted the increase in the number of business and leisure travelers from the south going to Manila.

Snooker Jaranilla, sales head of AirPhilExpress, said the fare rate for the company?s Davao to Manila flights has been pegged at P800 while its Cebu to Manila flight has been pegged at P600 for each passenger seat.
He said that with the opening of the budget airline?s red eye flights (so-called because it allows business travelers to travel on end-of-business hours to catch up on the business schedules the following day), passengers could expect much lower fare for the airline?s quick sale promo. ?These rates are already low but you can expect a much lower rate during our quick sale promo,? he said.

The end-of-business day flight schedules will allow businessmen time to travel to their business destinations without affecting their regular business day. This will allow businesses from the south to be just in time for their appointments with business partners in the north.

?The larger cargo hold of the Airbus A320 allows Cebu and Davao-based business to load cargo to and from Manila at the end of every business day and straight to market at the start of the next market day,? said Java.

?With business requiring Kaisan or just-in-time partners to meet their business objectives, Airphil Express has designed its Cebu-Manila and Davao-Manila flights specifically to respond to this business demand,? she said. ?The end-of-day flight schedule and the choice of aircraft to service these routes are crucial,? she said.

Airphil Express is a sister company of flagship carrier Philippine Airlines.

Java also said that the budget airline would use its A320 for these flights.

The budget airline is the only airline company that offers a 15-kilogram baggage allowance, the highest in the industry. Java said it would accommodate up to 20 kilos of free baggage for every passenger in the Davao-Manila and Cebu-Manila flights.