Cebu Pacific leads in PH-Australia flights

Budget carrier Cebu Pacific has kept its market share lead in the Philippines to Australia route, a statement on Thursday showed.

Citing data from Australia’s Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics from November last year, Cebu Pacific said it cornered a market share of 39.5 percent versus close competitor Philippine Airlines, which had a 38.1-percent share.

Cebu Pacific flies between Manila, Melbourne and Sydney. It also competes with Qantas, however the Australian carrier’s operations are limited to Manila and Sydney.

“As more brand-new aircraft enters the CEB (Cebu Pacific) fleet, we are now in a position to seriously study the possibility of expanding to more destinations in Australia. We are encouraged by our performance in the Australia market,” Candice Iyog, vice president for marketing at Cebu Pacific, said in the statement.

The airline said demand has been going up.

For Nov. 2018, some 48,000 passengers flew between Manila, Melbourne and Sydney. The figure represented a growth of 31.3 percent. Cebu Pacific alone carried 18,971 passengers, or a year-on-year growth of 56 percent.

Cebu Pacific flies five times weekly between Manila and Sydney and thrice a week between Manila and Melbourne.

Cebu Pacific is the only low-cost carrier with direct service from Manila to Sydney and Melbourne.