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| Founded | 1996 (as Cebu Air) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hubs | ||||
| Fleet size | 29 (+17 orders) | |||
| Destinations | 46 | |||
| Company slogan | It's time everyone flies! | |||
| Parent company | JG Summit Holdings, Inc. | |||
| Headquarters | Pasay City, Philippines | |||
| Key people | John Gokongwei, Jr. (Chairman Emeritus), Ricardo J. Romulo (Chairman), Lance Gokongwei (President and CEO) | |||
| Website | http://www.cebupacificair.com | |||
Cebu Air, Inc., operating as Cebu Pacific Air, is Asia's third-largest low-cost airline[1] based in Pasay City, Metro Manila, the Philippines. It offers scheduled flights to both domestic and international destinations. Cebu Pacific Air is currently the country's leading domestic carrier, serving the most domestic destinations with the largest number flights and routes, and equipped with the youngest fleet. Its main base is Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Manila, with another hub at Mactan-Cebu International Airport, Francisco Bangoy International Airport[2] and Diosdado Macapagal International Airport.[3]
The airline is a wholly-owned subsidiary of JG Summit Holdings, controlled by the Gokongwei family - one of the richest Filipino-Chinese families based in the Philippines. Cebu Pacific is currently headed by Lance Gokongwei, presumptive heir of John Gokongwei, the chairman emeritus of JG Summit. The company has 1,182 employees (as of March 2007)[2].
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History
The airline was established on August 26, 1988, and started operations on March 8, 1996. It was founded as Cebu Air, and subsequently acquired by JG Summit Holdings (owned by John Gokongwei). Domestic services commenced following market deregulation by the Philippine government. It temporarily ceased operations in February 1998 after being grounded by the government, but resumed services later the next month following re-certification of its aircraft[2]. It initially started with 24 domestic flights daily among Metro Manila, Metro Cebu and Davao City. By the end of 2001, its operations had grown to about 80 daily flights to 18 domestic destinations.
In the 2000s, Cebu Pacific was granted rights to operate international flights to the region, including Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Guam. International flights were launched on November 22, 2001, with a twice-daily service to Hong Kong.[4] On March 1, 2002, it commenced thrice-weekly flights to Seoul.[5] Other regional flights were introduced and suspended later; however, including flights to Singapore (from November 6, 2002, to January 2003) and from Manila via Subic to Seoul (from December 2002) due in part to the effects of the SARS epidemic.[6]
The airline resumed its Manila-to-Singapore flights on August 31, 2006[7] and launched its direct flight from Cebu to Singapore on October 23, 2006, the first low-cost airline to serve the Cebu-Singapore-Cebu sector,[8] and in direct competition with Singapore Airlines' subsidiary SilkAir, CEB is now the only Philippine carrier serving the Cebu-Singapore-Cebu route after PAL terminated its direct service. The airline operates direct flights from Cebu to Hong Kong which commenced October 2, 2006, which also made CEB the only Philippine carrier to serve a Cebu-Hong Kong-Cebu route after PAL terminated its direct service and is now code-sharing with Cathay Pacific for this route.[9]
In May 2005, Cebu Pacific received two Airbus A320 aircraft on lease from CIT Leasing and operated its first service with the new aircraft on June 3, 2005, from Manila to Davao City.
In December 2006, after a month or two of operating the new direct flights, Cebu Pacific announced that it would increase flight frequency for its Cebu-Hong Kong-Cebu from four to five times weekly and Cebu-Singapore-Cebu flights from four to six weekly effective January 25, 2007. As of January 2008, it operates regional flights to Busan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Seoul-Incheon, Taipei and Bangkok beginning April 6, 2008 from its Cebu hub; and Bangkok, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Macau, Singapore, Taipei, Seoul-Incheon, Shanghai and Xiamen from Manila.
Cebu Pacific's plans to begin international flights from Angeles-Clark Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) were initially unsuccessful when its request was denied. The nations involved came to an agreement that Cebu Pacific would be only allowed to operate charter flights from Clark to the respective countries' airport(s). Only Singapore initially agreed to allow Cebu Pacific to fly scheduled flights from Diosdado Macapagal International Airport to Singapore.[10] Currently Cebu Pacific only operates a route from Diosdado Macapagal International Airport to Cebu, but has since announced that it will be commencing international flights from Manila- Clark to Hong Kong, Macau and Singapore from November 2008 as well as domestic flights from Manila-Clark to Cebu.[11]
In June 2007, Cebu Pacific announced an order of up to 14 brand-new ATR-72-500 aircraft, with six firm orders and eight options. It plans to initially offer flights to Boracay, using Boracay's Godofredo P. Ramos Airport.[12]
On November 12, 2007, Cebu Pacific announced Davao's Francisco Bangoy International Airport as its fourth hub. Cebu Pacific announced that it would initially fly internationally from Davao to Singapore, Hong Kong and fly one domestic flight to Iloilo. Both direct services from Davao to Singapore and Iloilo commenced on May 8, 2008, while the service to Hong Kong commenced on May 9, 2008.[13]
In late 2007, Cebu Pacific mentioned that it is aiming to cross the Pacific and launch non-stop flights to the United States West Coast, Houston, Texas and Chicago, Illinois by mid-2009.[14].
On December 18, 2007, Cebu Pacific announced that it would exercise options on its recent ATR-72-500 turboprop order (initially six firm) to increase its firm order to 10.[15]
On February 19, 2008, Cebu Pacific Air received its first brand-new ATR 72-500 from Toulouse, France and expected to take delivery of another five ATRs from March to December 2008.[16] The initial two ATRs fly on routes such as Cebu to Bacolod.
Cebu Pacific took delivery of its 16th brand-new, 179-seater Airbus A320 aircraft, from Toulouse, France, on March 20, 2008. The new aircraft supports CEB's expanding international and domestic operations which include flights to 12, soon to be 15, international destinations.[17]
On May 28, 2008, Cebu Pacific was named as the world's number one airline in terms of growth. The airline was also ranked fifth in Asia for Budget Airline passengers transported and 23rd in the world. The airline carried a total of almost 5.5 million passengers in 2007, up 57.4 per cent from 2006[18]
On July 22, 2008, Cebu Pacific was the first airline to use the new Terminal 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport with its flight to Caticlan being the first to depart at 0515 local time. On August 1, 2008, it moved its international operations to the terminal; thus, becoming the first airline to have regular international commercial flights from the new terminal.
In August 2009, Cebu Pacific became the first airline in the Philippines to use social media, this is well ahead of legacy Singapore Airlines but behind carriers like Cathay Pacific or AirAsia. The Twitter account is [1].[19]
Destinations
Cebu Pacific flies to 36 domestic destinations, and to 14 international destinations in 10 countries.
Fleet
The average Cebu Pacific fleet is less than 17 months old as of October 2009. At present, Cebu Pacific has a fleet of 29 aircraft, composed of Airbus A320s and ATR 72-500s.
In April 2005, Cebu Pacific signed a joint-venture agreement with SIA Engineering Company for the maintenance of the Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft. The new company, called Aviation Partnership (Philippines) Corporation, is co-owned by SIA Engineering Ltd and Cebu Pacific.
In March 2007, Cebu Pacific announced an order of 10 Airbus A320s, plus 10 options. The firm orders are for delivery from 2010 to 2012, while the options are for delivery from 2011 to 2013. In order to bridge the gap from now until the first delivery in 2010, CEB will be taking short- to medium-term leases on Airbus A320 aircraft. 4 will be leased in 2008, with a further three to four being leased in 2009.
On 18 December 2008, Cebu Pacific announced that they have ordered an additional four ATR-72-500 turboprop aircraft. This order increases their order of ATR-72 aircraft from 6 firm plus 8 options to 10 firm plus 8 options.[15]
On 16 June 2009 at the Paris Airshow, Airbus announced that Cebu Pacific had increased its outstanding A320 orders to 15 with a new firm order for 5 aircraft. The additional planes are scheduled for delivery starting 2013.[20]
Current
| Aircraft | In Service | Orders | Options | Passengers (Economy) |
Routes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A319-100 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 150 | Domestic and International | All fitted with leather seats |
| Airbus A320-200 | 11 | 15 | 0 | 179/180 | Domestic and International | Most aircraft fitted with leather seats |
| ATR 72-500 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 72 | Domestic | All fitted with leather seats |
| Total | 29 | 17 | 8 | |||
Retired
| Aircraft | Year Retired | Replacement |
|---|---|---|
| McDonnell Douglas DC9-30 | 2006 | Airbus A319-100 |
| Boeing 757-200 | 2006 | Airbus A320-200 |
Partnerships
Cebu Pacific is the only Philippine-based member airline of Northwest Airlines' WorldPerks award travel program. WorldPerks offers regular travelers the ability to obtain free tickets, first-class upgrades on flights and other types of rewards. As of August 1, 2006, Northwest and Cebu Pacific no longer have a mileage-accrual agreement, although WorldPerks miles may still be redeemed on Cebu Pacific. As of January 26, 2008, Northwest Airlines has temporarily suspended their partnership with Cebu Pacific, due to the FAA Category 2 downgrading.
Incidents and Accidents
- On February 2, 1998, Cebu Pacific Flight 387, a DC-9-32 travelling from Manila to Cagayan de Oro, crashed on the slopes of Mount Sumagaya in Misamis Oriental, killing all 104 people on board. The crash was one of The Philippines's deadliest air disasters. Aviation investigators deemed the incident to be caused by pilot error when the plane made a non-regular stopover to Tacloban. Flight 387 was supposed to be a direct flight but due to the stopover, the pilots were not familiar with the route.
- On May 3, 2006, at 9:15 am, Cebu Pacific Flight 393, a Douglas DC-9 from Davao, was on final approach on Runway 27 at Zamboanga International Airport. After touchdown, the left main gear of the aircraft burst. None of the 100 passengers were injured. However, the aircraft was stuck on the runway, forcing the airport to be closed for 23 hours. All flights to and from Zamboanga were cancelled or re-routed.
External links
References
- ^ Cebu Pacific posts 21% revenue growth for 1st half of 2009
- ^ a b c "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International: p. 62. 2007-04-03.
- ^ CEB eyes Clark
- ^ Cebu Pacific Flies to Hongkong
- ^ Cebu Pacifc takes off for Seoul
- ^ Flying between Subic Seoul, Cebu Pacific, http://www.cebupacificair.com/aboutus/press/2003/02142003.html, retrieved 2008-03-31
- ^ Flies Manila-Singapore
- ^ Cebu Pacific Flies direct flight to Singapore from Cebu
- ^ Cebu Pacific Flies from Cebu to Hongkong, http://www.cebupacificair.com/aboutus/press/2006/08082006a.html, retrieved 2008-03-31
- ^ Lack of reciprocal flight privileges keeps Cebu Pacific international flights grounded at Clark
- ^ Cebu Pacific now flying Cebu – Clark
- ^ Cebu Pacific orders up to 14 brand new ATR72-500 aircraft
- ^ Cebu Pacific (2007-11-12). "Cebu Pacific to make Davao its 3rd hub". Press release. http://www.cebupacificair.com/aboutus/press/2007/11122007.html. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
- ^ "Directory: CebuPac’s next meal: Regional, US routes". http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=business5_sept17_2007.
- ^ a b Philippines' Cebu Pacific to by 4 more ATR turbo-prop planes
- ^ Cebu Pacific takes delivery of first ATR 72-500 aircraft, Cebu Pacific, http://www.cebupacificair.com/aboutus/press/2008/02192008a.html, retrieved 2008-03-22
- ^ Cebu Pacific expects new Airbus arrival, http://www.cebupacificair.com/aboutus/press/2008/03192008.html, retrieved 2008-03-29
- ^ Philippines Budget Carrier Cebu Pacific Is World No. 1 In Growth
- ^ Why time is running out for the Singapore Airlines brand to get into Web 2.0
- ^ . http://www.airbus.com/en/presscentre/pressreleases/pressreleases_items/09_06_16_cebu_pacific_a320.html.
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