Cebu Pacific junks plan to fly to Honolulu

CEBU PACIFIC is dropping plans to fly to Honolulu, Hawaii as it focuses on high-demand domestic and Asian destinations.

“Before there were plans… there’s no active plan. We’d rather focus our resources on existing demand for regional and domestic flights,” Cebu Pacific CEO Lance Y. Gokongwei told reporters on the sidelines of a Cebu Pacific launch event.

To cope with increasing demand, Mr. Gokongwei said they have increased frequencies for flights to Nagoya and Narita in Japan and Hanoi in Vietnam.

“I guess that’s a reflection now of the increasing number of tourists coming to these countries,” Mr. Gokongwei said.

Cebu Air, Inc. recently formally filed for additional entitlements to Hong Kong as well as Bali, Indonesia, due to “increasing demand,” said Mr. Gokongwei.

For long-haul flights, Mr. Gokongwei said flying to the mainland United States is a possibility, but there are no current plans for Cebu Pacific to fly to Europe, as flights to the US hold more promise. The carrier currently flies to the US territory of Guam.

Cebu Pacific previously said it will increase frequency for its direct flights to Sydney, Australia.

In July, the airline opened five new domestic routes, riding on demand from domestic leisure and business travelers: Zamboanga-Cagayan de Oro, Zamboanga-Cotabato, Cebu-Masbate, Davao-Dumaguete, and Davao Tacloban. —