Friday, November 30, 2007 Cebu Pacific expands operations to Davao
CEBU Pacific (CEB) is expanding operations in the southern Philippines by making Davao its third hub after Manila and Cebu starting on May 8, 2008.
Lance Gokongwei, CEB president and chief executive officer, said in a recent press conference at the Davao International Airport that “Cebu Pacific is already the biggest airline serving Davao City with the most flights, most destinations, most routes and the lowest year-round fares. This encouraged us to set up our third base of operations here and develop it into another gateway for the country.”
“This third hub is in preparation for more expansive inter-island connectivity, as we acquire more aircraft. We are initially dedicating a 150-seater A319 aircraft to operate from this hub,” he added.
Initial offer
CEB will initially offer direct international services from Davao to Hong Kong and Singapore and a direct domestic service to Iloilo, making it the only airline to operate to Hong Kong and Iloilo and the only Philippine carrier to operate to Singapore.
Both direct services from Davao to Singapore and Iloilo will commence on May 8, 2008 while the service to Hong Kong will start the following day.
These new services are introduced with a seat sale that will run from Nov. 13 to 20, 2007 only.
The Davao-Singapore non-stop service will fly three times weekly: Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. Meanwhile, the Davao-Hong Kong direct service will operate four times weekly every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.
Seat sale
The one-way seat sale fare for the international services is at P999 exclusive of taxes and surcharges. After the seat sale, the lowest year round ‘Go’ fare Davao-Hong Kong is at P1,499, while Davao-Singapore is at P1,999.
The Davao-Iloilo direct domestic service flies every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and is introduced with a one-way seat sale fare of only P98. After the seat sale, the lowest year round ‘Go’ fare from Davao to Iloilo starts from P288.
“We will continue to expand our operations to achieve our goal of flying more travelers. And, with our continuous aircraft acquisition and base expansion, we hope to boost the country’s tourism and trade agenda in the region,” Gokongwei said.
CEB also confirmed that it will still continue to pursue a fourth operational hub in Clark as soon as all the necessary government approvals to operate to Bangkok, Macau, Taipei, Hong Kong and Singapore are granted. (PR)
