Saturday, June 28, 2008 Carrier’s budget unit to expand Cebu hub with more flights
PAL Express, the low-fares brand of Philippine Airlines, will add five new routes to its Cebu network on July 1, nearly doubling the present reach of its main hub and expanding the Philippine Airlines (PAL) domestic network to 30 routes across 21 destinations throughout the country.
The new services will be between Cebu and Cagayan de Oro, Cebu and Ozamiz, Cebu and Dipolog, Cebu and Zamboanga, and Zam-boanga and Davao.
“With four more important routes between Cebu and as many Mindanao points, plus one key intra-Mindanao route, we are giving our Cebu-based passengers further options in their travel itineraries, and at lower fares at that,” said PAL president Jaime J. Bautista.
The Cagayan de Oro, Zamboanga and Zam-boanga-Davao services will all operate daily, while the Ozamiz service will fly four times weekly and the Dipolog service, three times weekly.
New aircraft
All will utilize modern, 76-seater Bombardier Q400 turbo-prop aircraft, the flagship of the PAL Express fleet.
PAL Express has undergone rapid expansion since launching less than two months ago, on May 5. The addition of the five routes widens the brand’s network to 11 routes out of its Cebu base and 13 overall, counting two routes from its secondary hub of Manila.
PAL Express already operates flights of varying daily frequencies between Cebu and Bacolod, Butuan, Boracay (Caticlan), General Santos, Puerto Princesa and Tacloban. The Cebu hub was inaugurated only last May 19.
From Manila, PAL Express flies eight times daily to Boracay and daily to Busuanga in northern Palawan.
More destinations and routes will be added to the network in the coming weeks as PAL Express takes delivery of its aircraft.
In all, the unit will operate a fleet of nine Bombardier turbo-props—six Q400s and three Q300s. Five of the nine aircraft are already in service, with the latest Q400 joining the fleet just this week. (PR)
