CEBU Pacific has opted to defer the relaunch of several flights to China due to a combination of low demand and the current state of Philippines-China relations.
Alexander Lao, Cebu Pacific president and chief commercial officer, said the planned resumption of Manila-Beijing flights would be suspended until further notice.
He added that “we are not operating, for example, into Xiamen and Shenzhen this winter 2024. So that’s part of our pivot and you would see that in our announcements anyway.”
“We have to be pragmatic as well. Considering the existing relationships between the Philippines and China, it’s better suited maybe for us to redeploy our assets elsewhere and cater to demand where we see it,” Lao said.
He remains hopeful that the Chinese market will recover, saying “it’s an important pillar in our tourism, in our tourism numbers, almost two million in 2019.”
Cebu Pacific will be moving some of its services to other places such as Chiang Mai in Thailand and Da Nang in Vietnam.
“You’ll see a few more announcements hopefully in the next couple of weeks,” Lao said.
Cebu Pacific is set to fly from Manila to Chiang Mai starting Oct. 29, 2024, the fourth route that the airline will operate in Thailand.
The airline expects to carry more than 24 million passengers this year, up from 15.84 million in 2023.
Cebu Pacific currently offers flights to 35 domestic and 26 international destinations spread across Asia, Australia, and the Middle East.
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