Passenger growth of Cebu Pacific’s (CEB) Middle East flights has remained robust due to sustained capacity between Manila and Riyadh, Kuwait and Dubai, and the launch of Manila-Doha in June 2015, a top official has said.
In a press statement,  Vice President for Corporate Affairs Atty. JR Mantaring said growth in passenger volume was largely driven by the airline’s low-cost long-haul services and increased frequencies in key domestic markets.
Flights between Manila and Dubai posted the highest number of passengers with more than 230,000 guests taking the flight in 2015.
Passengers flown on CEB’s long-haul routes grew by 146% year-on-year, on the back of increased presence in Australia and the Middle East, according to Mantaring.
He said CEB flew a total of 18.4mn passengers in 2015, an increase of 9% from 16.9mn flown in 2014. On average, CEB flights were 83% full during the year.
The Philippines’ leading airline also posted notable passenger growth in international destinations such as Hong Kong, Tokyo (Narita) and Nagoya in Japan, as well as Beijing and Shanghai in China. “Last January 3, 2016, the Cebu Pacific Air group carried a total of 62,947 passengers – the highest number of travellers we have ever flown in one day,” Mantaring noted.CEB also carried more than 150,000 passengers between Manila and Sydney for full-year 2015.
Based on the latest report from Australia’s Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics, the airline remains the largest carrier on the Manila-Sydney route with 40% market share from November 2014 to October 2015.
During this period, overall traffic between Manila and Sydney also grew by 69%.
“This scalable growth in our key domestic and international markets reflects our commitment in driving trade and tourism in the countries we operate in, and enabling more travellers to connect with families and friends around the globe,” said Mantaring.Passengers flown to short haul international destinations such as Hong Kong, Japan and China also increased.
Passenger volume to and from Japan grew by 39% to more than 280,000 in 2015 as CEB successfully stimulated traffic with the launch of its operations from Manila and Cebu to Tokyo (Narita), and Manila to Nagoya.
The airline also mounted flights between Manila and Fukuoka, its fourth destination in Japan, in December 2015. CEB offers flights to a network of over 90 routes on 64 destinations, spanning Asia, Australia and the Middle East.
It is slated to launch direct flights between Manila and Guam, its first US destination on March 15.
In the Philippines, domestic passengers increased by 7.41% in 2015, following added frequencies between Manila and Tagbilaran (Bohol), and Cebu and Tandag (Surigao del Sur).
Both routes posted over 100% in passenger growth
year-on-year.