Cebu Pacific Air has announced plans to launch flights to Xiamen, riding on the back of strong demand for travel between China and the Philippines.
President of Cebu Pacific, Lance Gokongwei, stated that a lot of Filipino people - himself included - have roots in Xiamen, making the route a lucrative one. A timeframe for the new flight, however, has not been released.
According to Lance, passenger traffic between the Philippines and its three destinations in Mainland China – Guangzhou, Beijing and Shanghai – grew by a combined total of 37 per cent from the previous year.
In response to the growth and robust demand, the carrier will increase the frequency of flights between Manila and Beijing from three to four times per week in January 2012.
“We plan to go daily into Beijing and Guangzhou and double daily into Shanghai but that is limited by the air traffic agreements between China and the Philippines,” said Lance.
Other flights that will see increased frequencies next year include the Manila-Singapore flight, which will rise from 32 to 35 flights per week; the Manila-Brunei route, to operate four times a week, up from three; and the Manila-Ho Chi Minh flight, which will increase from four times weekly to become a daily service. Earlier this month, the carrier also announced plans to fly double daily to Kuala Lumpur from January 8 next year (see story here).
These increased frequencies and further network expansion across Asia will be facilitated by deliveries of four new Airbus A320 aircraft by the end of this year and a further 23 A320s to follow between 2012 and 2021.
From 2015 onwards, the carrier will begin to take delivery of 30 new A321neos, which have a longer range and will enable Cebu Pacific to launch routes into India – currently inaccessible to the carrier given the shorter range of the A320s, explained Lance.
For more information, visit www.cebupacificair.com
Alisha Haridasani
