Update: Cebu Pacific one peso seat sale to all domestic destinations is on! This is from June 10 to June 11, 2010 only. Travel for (almost) free to these places: Manila, Cebu, Clark, Davao, Bacolod, Surigao, Iloilo, Zamboanga, Dipolog, Cagayan de Oro, Boracay, Puerto Princesa, Legazpi, Tagbilaran, Dumaguete, Busuanga and other exciting places. Travel will be valid from January 1 to March 31, 2011.
Philippine Airlines still has its loyalists ( and I still prefer it for the pleasure of having in-flight food) but if figures are to be believed, its rival Cebu Pacific is now officially the Philippines’ largest airline judging from the number of passengers flown on both domestic and international routes for the first quarter of 2010.
The Cebu Pacific website cited statistics from the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) showing that CEB “flew 2,448,990 domestic and international passengers from January to March this year, almost 110,000 more than Philippine Airlines’ system-wide figures of 2,339,788.” It’s a close fight, but Cebu Pacific now claims to have a 51% share of the market, up 1% from last year’s 50% 😀
In 2009, CEB flew 8.8 million passengers and it expects the numbers to increase by the end of the year with a projected 10 million passengers flown for the whole of 2010.
And while rival PAL is dealing with the possibility of mass layoffs, CEB seems to be awash with funds to buy new aircraft. The Cebu Pacific press statement says it is awaiting delivery of 22 Airbus A320s that can seat 180 people starting in October 2010 up to 2014. This lends credence to Cebu Pacific’s claim that it has the largest line-up of Airbus planes, as well as having the newest fleet among the local airlines. Its present fleet consists of 21 Airbus and 8 ATR 72-500 aircraft.
CEB is the third largest low-cost carrier in Asia and the only low-cost carrier flying to all three major North Asian countries of Japan, China and South Korea. It just introduced its newest international route Brunei which will start on August 21.
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