Revenge travel in full swing. —PHOTO FROM CEBU PACIFIC
After fully restoring its domestic capacity, Cebu Pacific is now adding more international flights to several destinations across Asia and Australia as borders reopen, allowing further movement for travelers.
The Gokongwei-led budget airline has increased its weekly flights from Manila to Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh and Osaka. Daily flights from Manila to Seoul (Incheon) will be available as well.
By June 29, the Manila-Nagoya route will operate five times weekly, an increase from four times.
The budget carrier is also set to have twice daily flights for the Manila-Singapore route beginning July 1.
Next month, flights to Sydney, Australia, will resume.
From its Cebu hub, flights to Seoul (Incheon) will also begin operations by July 3.
“As we anticipate demand to pick up, we will continue to boost our flight frequencies to enable our passengers to fly easy across our network—whether for a vacation or simply to visit family and friends, after such a long time,” said Xander Lao, Cebu Pacific chief commercial officer.
Last month, the low-cost airline reported that it had fully restored its domestic network capacity to prepandemic level with the addition of flights to popular travel destinations and resumption of direct routes to Visayas and Mindanao hubs.
It recently opened more flights to Manila, Cebu, Clark, Cagayan de Oro, Davao, Iloilo and Kalibo amid the peak summer season.
In the first quarter, Cebu Pacific saw its net losses widen to P7.61 billion from P7.3 billion year-on-year, mainly because of the P2.21 billion worth of nonrecurring market valuation losses. Passenger revenues, however, grew more than threefold to P3.16 billion year-on-year for the period.
“We laud the [Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases] for further simplifying travel requirements for travelers coming into the country. This directive makes it more convenient and more affordable for boosted travelers, both Filipinos and foreigners alike, to come home or rediscover the Philippines,” Lao added.