GOKONGWEI-BACKED Cebu Pacific has announced that it is set to exceed its Cebu hub’s pre-pandemic network and capacity which will hit 129 percent in June, as the airline raises to 28 its combined domestic and international routes operating in Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA).

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the budget carrier will start operating direct flights between Cebu and Taipei daily starting June 23, increasing its network from MCIA to a total of 23 domestic and five international destinations.

CEB will also ramp up its flight frequencies to 11 of its destinations from Cebu.

Starting March 16, the Cebu-Butuan route will have 28 flights per week; Cebu-Caticlan, 25x weekly; Cebu-Bacolod, 21x weekly; Cebu-Siargao, 21x weekly; Cebu-Dumaguete, 14x weekly; Cebu-Legazpi, 14x weekly; Cebu-General Santos City, 11x weekly; Cebu-Surigao, 10x weekly; and Cebu-Incheon, seven flights per week.

On May 5, CEB will start flying Cebu-Clark (17x weekly) and Cebu-Puerto Princesa (14x weekly).

To support this expansion, CEB said it will increase its Cebu hub’s fleet to 13, with two additional aircraft to be based at MCIA. The added aircraft are on top of the 10 new Airbus NEO aircraft that will be delivered in 2023 to expand the airline’s entire fleet.

The airline previously announced that it would operate direct flights from Cebu to Naga starting March 26 and resume flights to Hong Kong and Narita from Cebu on March 26 and May 1, respectively.

“Cebu Pacific is proud to have its largest base outside Manila, in one of the best airports in Asia. We are excited to further expand our Cebu hub to connect more travelers to some of the world’s best beaches and islands,” said Candice Iyog, Cebu Pacific chief marketing and customer experience officer, in a statement.

CEB flew over 108,300 flights and over 19.7 million seats last year and ended 2022 at 92 percent of pre-pandemic capacity. (KOC)