BUDGET airline Cebu Pacific (CEB) is expanding its flight frequencies this year for a bigger domestic and regional market share.
"We aim to fly 12 million passengers in 2011, an 18% increase from last year's targets. Internationally, we plan to grow our passenger base by 35%," company vice president for marketing and distribution Candice Iyog said.
The new target factors in the expected 20% rise in passengers to Greater China, particularly to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Taipei, Macau and Hong Kong where the airline flies 80 flights weekly from the Philippines.
"We have also just recently announced the beginning of CEB's Manila-Busan operations this June. We already fly to South Korea's second-largest city from Cebu, and this new route will allow more tourism and business between the two countries."
Flights to Beijing and Guangzhou will also be jacked up this year, as will those to Seoul (Incheon) and Bangkok.
Last month, CEB added flights to Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Brunei, Singapore, Ho Chi Minh and Jakarta.
"We are expecting the delivery of our 25th brand-new Airbus A320 aircraft in the last week of January, and four more brand-new aircraft in 2011," Iyog said.
By the end of 2011, CEB will be operating a fleet of 37 aircraft with an average age of less than 2.5 years. Between 2012 and 2014, Cebu Pacific will take an additional 16 Airbus A320 aircraft.
The first low-cost carrier in Asia, CEB currently operates over 260 flights daily to 16 international destinations and 33 domestic destinations. It flew almost 10.5 million passengers in 2011, exceeding targets with a 19 percent increase over 2009. Its international passengers also grew by 38 percent in 2011.
Earlier, CEB said they are sinking in some P1 billion to further modernize and increase their fleet as well as to hire additional employees to support its operations.
Fuel surcharge
In another development, Philippine Airlines (PAL) is seeking to impose a fuel surcharge of between $16 and $50 on most of its international destinations following the move of other international carriers earlier this month.
The Civil Aeronautics Board is set to hear PAL's petition this week.
