Philippine-based low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific Air will be suspending its services to and from three Middle East countries by June and July, saying the routes have become “unsustainable.”
The airline said it will fly the last of its four-times-a-week service from Manila to Kuwait on June 13, 2017, and its Kuwait-Manila flight on June 14. The thrice-weekly Manila-Doha (Qatar)-Manila route will have its last flight on July 1. Meanwhile the last flight from Manila to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia departs on July 2, and the Riyadh-Manila flight leaves for its final flight on July 3.
“The entry of Cebu Pacific into these markets benefitted passengers with lower fares and more choices. Of late, other carriers have aggressively added more flights, which has resulted in substantial oversupply of seats and fares that are so low, hence making the routes unsustainable,” Cebu Pacific vice president for corporate affairs Atty. JR Mantaring said in a statement.
“We have to continuously review our routes to ensure their viability. At this point, it makes more sense for us to re-deploy the aircraft used for our Riyadh, Doha and Kuwait service to routes where we can further stimulate demand and sustain our low fare offers,” he added.
Cebu Pacific will retain its other long-haul services to and from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and to and from Sydney, Australia, with a view to increasing frequencies to these destinations in the future.
The airline also flies to 24 other international destinations across Asia and the U.S. as well as to 37 domestic destinations.
Passengers affected by the suspension of service in Doha, Riyadh, and Kuwait are to be given the option to rebook their flights with other airlines or on earlier travel dates with Cebu Pacific; get a full refund; or place the full value of the ticket in a travel fund for future use.
From January to March 2017, Cebu Pacific carried 4.8 million passengers, of which 1.3 million flew to international destinations. Total revenues for the first quarter of 2017 were up 4.7% to P16.9 billion, but outpaced by the growth of expenses driven by a weaker peso versus the U.S. dollar and by rising fuel prices. Cebu Pacific’s net income for the first three months of 2017 was down 68% versus the same period in 2016.
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