After the lifting of COVID limitations, Cebu Pacific is expanding its network of flights from the Philippines to the northeast Asian cities of Seoul, Taipei, Hong Kong, and Tokyo. Yesterday, the low-cost airline Cebu Pacific announced that it would be adding more flights from its base at Mactan-Cebu International Airport. By adding these new services, Cebu Pacific will be able to operate more flights out of its hub by the end of June than it did before the pandemic.
From Mactan-Cebu International Airport (CEB) to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Cebu Pacific will begin direct flights on June 23. (TPE). The direct service between Mactan and Taipei will expand Cebu Pacific’s operations from the airport to 23 domestic and five foreign destinations. Connections to northeast Asia are being improved in Cebu.
Cebu Pacific (Cebu) will enhance the frequency of flights from CEB to 11 of its destinations as part of its expansion in Mactan. With the additional and resumed flights, Cebu’s capacity at Mactan will rise by 21% to 76,000 passengers per month. The restart of flights to Tokyo Narita Airport (NRT) and Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) was also confirmed yesterday.
On March 26, the Mactan to Hong Kong flight will resume, while the May 1 departure for the Tokyo Narita trip. Moreover, beginning on March 26, Cebu will introduce a new domestic direct route from Mactan to Naga Airport (WNP). In addition to the 10 Airbus A320neos it will receive this year, Cebu is adding two more planes to its fleet at CEB in order to accommodate the growth. Candice Iyog, chief marketing and customer experience officer for the airline, stated:
“One of the top airports in Asia is home to Cebu Pacific’s largest base outside of Manila, which it is proud of. We can’t wait to connect more tourists with some of the best beaches and islands on the planet by expanding our Cebu hub.”
On Luzon Island in the Philippines, Cebu stated this week that it was increasing services from its hub at Clark International Airport (CRK). Cebu is once more traveling north, this time to Seoul, the capital of South Korea, similar to the new direct route to Taipei.
On May 5, a daily service will begin with flight 5J 176 from Clark International to Seoul’s Incheon International Airport (ICN), which will depart at 10:35 and arrive at 15:45. It spends an hour on the ground in Seoul before taking off as flight 5J 177 and touching down at Clark Airport at 20:05.
There will be more aircraft soon.
On the Cebu website, an Airbus A320 with 188 seats is described as operating the Clark-Seoul direct service. Cebu’s nine A320neos can accommodate 188 passengers, therefore this is probably the plane type that will be traveling to Seoul, according to Planespotters.net.
Airbus A320-200s, A321-200s, A321neos, A330s, and ATR 72 turboprops make up the remaining 67 aircraft in the fleet. Ten of the Airbus A321XLR’s are been ordered, so Cebu will be next in line when it goes into operation. The 10 A320neos scheduled to arrive in 2023 are not included in Cebu’s announcement last week that it will lease and base three extra aircraft there to support the Clark expansion.
By enhancing its domestic and international routes and services at the end of February, Cebu reinforced the Clark hub. Cebu will now have six overseas destinations from Clark after the addition of the Seoul route, joining Hong Kong, Bangkok, Singapore, Macau, and Tokyo Narita. The LCC offers flights to 25 foreign and 24 local locations in the Middle East, Australia, and Asia.
