The Civil Aeronautics Board granted additional entitlements to Cebu Pacific from Manila to United Arab Emirates and Russia, as well as from various points in the Philippines to Taiwan.
The budget airline owned by industrialist tycoon received the right to operate additional seven flights weekly from Manila to the UAE, which would allow the airline to launch flights to any point in the UAE.
Cebu Pacific currently is fully utilizing its entitlements with daily flights between Manila and Dubai.
The airline’s request for rights to operate direct flights to Taipei from Caticlan, Clark, Davao, Puerto Princesa and Tagbilaran, as well as direct flights to Kaohshiung from Caticlan and Cebu, was also granted.
The airline is presently operating 10 times weekly flights between Manila and Taipei, and thrice weekly flights between Cebu and Taipei.
Cebu Pacific was also designated an official Philippine carrier to Russia, and granted thrice weekly flights each from Manila to Moscow and Vladivostok.
In addition, the government approved Cebu Pacific’s request to be designated as an official carrier under the Asean Multilateral Agreement on Air Services.
As soon as the Philippines completes the ratification of the relevant protocols of the MAAS, the airline will be able to operate unlimited flights between capital cities within Southeast Asia.
“We sincerely thank and commend the members of the Civil Aeronautics Board for enabling Philippine carriers such as Cebu Pacific to expand operations to key international destinations,” Cebu Pacific’s vice president for corporate affairs JR Mantaring said.
“We’ve always maintained that traffic rights are valuable resources that must be rationally allocated to carriers that are willing and able to utilize and operate flights. We look forward to mounting additional flights to meet the growing travel demand in communities we serve, and opening new routes to stimulate travel in emerging markets,” Mantaring said.
Cebu Pacific offers flights to a network of over 90 routes on 60 destinations, spanning Sydney, Dubai, Doha, Bali and Tokyo (Narita).
On December 17, 2015, the airline launched three new routes: Manila-Fukuoka, Cebu-Taipei, and Davao–Singapore.
It is slated to launch direct flights from Manila to Guam, its first US destination, on March 15, 2016.
The airline’s 55-strong fleet is comprised of 8 Airbus A319, 33 Airbus A320, 6 Airbus A330 and 8 ATR-72 500 aircraft.
Between 2016 and 2021, Cebu Pacific will take delivery of five more brand-new Airbus A320, 30 Airbus A321neo and 16 ATR 72-600 aircraft.