Philippines Airlines’ low-cost subsidiary, AirPhil Express is now flying daily between Cebu and Hong Kong.
The flight, operated by an all-economy narrow body Airbus A320-200, departs Cebu at 0705 on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, arriving at Hong Kong International Airport Terminal 2 at 0955. On Wednesday, the carrier departs at 0630, arriving in Hong Kong at 0920, and on Friday, it departs at 0700, touching down at 0900.
The return leg departs Hong Kong at 1030 on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, arriving back at Mactan-Cebu Airport at 1320. On Wednesday, the flight departs at 0955, arriving in Cebu at 1245, and on Friday, the flight departs at 1025, arriving in Cebu at 1315.
Hong Kong is the carrier’s second international destination, after Singapore, reflecting its rapid expansion. “We’re still in the process of building our international network and are looking at Macau, Thailand and Korea. We’re also trying to get rights for a Manila-Hong Kong flight,” said Alfredo Herrera, AirPhil Express’ senior vice-president of marketing and sales.
The Cebu-Hong Kong route is a lucrative one for both leisure and MICE travellers, with three competitors, Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific and Cathay Pacific, already serving the route totalling at least three flights per day. AirPhil Express, however, differentiates itself by offering passengers extremely low prices and free luggage check-in of up to 15kg as well as other services, such as travel insurance packages (see story here).
Since its launch on March 28 last year, AirPhil has grown exponentially. Domestic passenger traffic, according to Herrera, grew by 500 percent. The carrier has also ordered a total of 14 new A320s for future international expansion, of which six are now already in service.
To inaugurate the new flight, the carrier is offering promotional one-way tickets starting from HK$165 (US$21), inclusive of an additional five kilograms for checked in baggage thus enabling passengers to check in a total of 20kg. The promotion applies to tickets booked between now and the end of August for the same travel period.
For more information, visit www.airphilexpress.com
Alisha Haridasani
