Low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific said it expects to boost its market share in Australia with the launch of a direct service between Manila and Melbourne on Aug. 14.
“Bookings for our Manila-Melbourne-Manila service are healthy. The bookings comprise of travelers who want to visit Melbourne and Filipino-Australians who want to visit friends and relatives in various parts of the Philippines,” Cebu Pacific vice president for marketing Candice Iyog said.
“Cebu Pacific fares between Manila and Melbourne start as low as P9,539″•about 60 percent lower than prevailing fares of other airlines. We’re thrilled to extend the CEB effect to Melbourne,” she said.
Melbourne is the second destination of Cebu Pacific in Australia, following the launch of its direct Manila-Sydney route in 2014.
Cebu Pacific said that since it started direct services between Sydney and Manila in 2014, the airline helped spur travel and commerce between the two destinations.
Tourism between the Philippines and Australia has increased by an average 16 percent yearly since 2014.
Australia is one of the top sources of tourist arrivals in the Philippines, with over 120,000 Australians visiting the country in the first five months of 2018 alone.
The Philippines is fast gaining popularity among Australian travelers as a holiday destination, rivaling Bali and Thailand. Moreover, the direct route between Manila and Sydney enabled more Filipino-Australians to visit the Philippines frequently. Filipinos are among the largest immigrant groups in Australia, numbering about 300,000 as of 2017.
Data from Australia’s Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport, and Regional Economics showed that from January to April 2018, total passengers flown between the two destinations reached 149,029, up 3.7 percent from a year ago.
Cebu Pacific said of the total passengers in the four-month period, it flew 59, 678 passengers, representing a 40-percent market share. Philippine Airlines and Qantas garnered a market share of 34 percent and 26 percent, respectively.
The report also showed that in terms of air freight services, cargo volume between Manila and Sydney grew 10 percent year-on-year to 3,427 tons in the first four months of 2018. Cebu Pacific garnered 48 percent of the cargo market share between the two destinations.
“The sustained growth of trade between the Philippines and Australia continues to fuel the demand for cargo space. As we enhance our freight capabilities in the Philippines while offering low-cost and efficient transport of time-sensitive goods, we hope that this would entice more exports of Filipino products into Australia,” said Alex Reyes, vice president for cargo at Cebu Pacific.