Cebu Pacific confident in Australian market

The Philippines’ low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific is eyeing off further routes to Australia.

An Airbus A320 plane operated by Cebu Pacific.

The Philippines’ low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific is eyeing off further routes to Australia.

Next month, Cebu will start a direct thrice-weekly service between Melbourne and Manila.

“If we do well we will certainly add frequencies,” Alex Reyes, vice-president of Cebu Pacific, told The Australian.

The carrier already flies Manila-Sydney, a route that it started in 2014.

It competes against Qantas and Philippine Airlines to provide flights to the Southeast Asian country but is the only low-cost carrier plying the route directly between Australia and The Philippines.

Mr Reyes said that other major cities in Australia were “all under constant evaluation”.

“We also are quite interested in adding other ports,” he said.

He noted that the carrier was adding to the fleet, including the investment in new Airbus A321 aircraft.

Between this year and 2022, Cebu is taking delivery of six extra Airbus A321ceo (claimed as the most efficient single-aisle jetliner built), 32 Airbus A321neo and eight ATR 72-600.

Mr Reyes said the rise in travel demand was spurred by a growing Filipino community in Australia, as well as the strength of The Philippines’ economy, which the International Monetary Fund this week forecast would grow at 6.7 per cent this year and next.