Cebu Pacific beefing up hub in Clark to cash in on northern market potential

CEBU CITY—Budget carrier Cebu Pacific, the largest airline in the Philippines by volume, is beefing up its hub in Clark with the introduction of three new domestic destinations out of the airport north of Manila.

Michael Ivan S. Shau, the company’s COO, said this year, said during Routes Asia 2019 that the airline will be mounting flights from Clark International Airport to Iloilo, Bacolod and Puerto Princesa, Palawan.

“We are very much interested in a lot of development of Clark,” he said. “We believe that there is a significant untapped market in northern provinces in the Philippines.”

Cebu Pacific’s daily flights from Clark to Iloilo and Bacolod will start on August 9. Its daily flights to Puerto Princesa from Clark will commence on October 9.

“Creating direct links between domestic destinations and our other hubs will spur tourism and movement of goods and investments, while doing away with having to pass through the main hub in Manila,” Shau said.

He explained that Cebu Pacific is expanding its route network in Clark as demand for more direct flights from the Northern and Central Luzon regions continue to increase. Shau added that Cebu Pacific now has the ability to expand more into Clark, as it is expected to take delivery of 12 new jets this year.

“We are now able to allot the asset into secondary airports,” he said.

Over the past 10 years, Clark has served as the northern hub of Cebu Pacific, despite the airport’s previous marketability constraints due to its distance from Manila. Today, Clark has become one of Asia’s fastest-growing airports, after breaching the 2.5-million passenger mark in 2018.

Cebu Pacific, over the last six months, has boosted its operations in Clark by over 75 percent with direct local connections to Cebu, Caticlan, Tagbilaran, Davao and international connections to Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong.

Aside from Clark, the Gokongwei-led carrier is also beefing up its Cebu hub this year, keeping right with its promise to ramp up capacity in the Queen City of the South by as much as 20 percent in 2019 through key markets in North Asia.

For Cebu, the airline is looking at “launching a new route to mainland China,” he said, but refused to expound.

“The Philippines is the closest tropical destination from North Asia. Cebu and the 166 islands within the province alone boast some of the best tropical getaways in the world. It’s a logical choice to be our ‘ beach hub’ with easier access to world-class beaches, dive spots and resorts,” he explained.

Here, Cebu Pacific mounts direct domestic flights to Manila, Bacolod, Caticlan (Boracay), Butuan, Cagayan de Oro, Calbayog, Camiguin, Clark, Davao, Dumaguete, General Santos, Iloilo, Kalibo, Legazpi, Ozamis, Pagadian, Puerto Princesa, Siargao, Surigao, Tacloban and Zamboanga. Its international destination portfolio involves flights to Hong Kong, Macau, Tokyo (Narita), Singapore and Incheon.

Aside from Manila, Clark, and Cebu, the carrier also operates flights out of hubs in Kalibo, Iloilo, Davao and Cagayan de Oro. Through its 72-strong fleet, Cebu Pacific flies to 37 domestic and 26 international destinations, operating over 2,130 weekly flights that span across 108 routes in Asia, Australia, the Middle East and the United States of America.