Cebu Pacific's plan to launch long-haul services to Auckland is aimed at serving the growing Filipino community in New Zealand.
The carrier has filed an application with Philippines’ Civil Aeronautics Board to be allocated seven weekly frequencies, and also be designated as the official Philippine carrier to New Zealand.
“Today there are no direct services between the Philippines and New Zealand. There is an opportunity to stimulate additional passenger traffic by providing a convenient, non-stop service,” a Cebu Pacific spokeswoman tells Flightglobal.
She adds that there is a growing Filipino community in New Zealand, and that should Cebu Pacific provide “substantially lower fares” than what is available in the market today, passenger and cargo demand will “grow by leaps and bounds”.
Cebu Pacific launched its low-cost arm last October with the Manila-Dubai route. It has three Airbus A330s in its fleet, and will take delivery of another two of the widebodies this year.
The carrier has said that it also plans to put its incoming aircraft on routes to Saudi Arabia and Australia.
Cebu Pacific is also seeking authority to operate its own aircraft to the USA, following the US Federal Aviation Administration’s upgrade of the Philippines to category one status earlier this month.
The spokeswoman says designated Philippine carriers including Cebu Pacific have unlimited frequencies to nine designated points in the US currently, including Honolulu and Guam.
“Once we are able to secure our operating permit from the US DOT, we may operate to any of the designated points in the US,” she adds.
Cebu Pacific has also been removed from the European blacklist of banned operators this month, and could possibly start services to Europe in the longer term.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
