Cebu Pacific Planning Flights to Europe

Cebu Pacific is making preparations for long-haul flights to Europe and the United States. Lance Gokongwei, the CEO of Cebu Pacific, revealed that the airline is planning to make a presentation to European authorities this November that will hopefully encourage European regulators to remove the airline off of the EU blacklist enabling the airline to mount flights to Europe.

cebu pacific dubai
Copyright Photo: Angelo Agcamaran/PPSG
"We are planning to go to the EU this November, as you know we were planning to go in May but we decided to delay that," said Gokongwei. "In November, we are going to make a formal presentation to EU authorities and we are likewise working towards a certification to be able to fly to Europe."

The airline re-scheduled its original presentation to the European Union Air Safety Commission last June after the airline was involved in two landing incidents. While the airline had taken steps to comply with European standards, the incidents in June showed that further improvements were required.

"Based on that, we continue to work towards going to Europe in cooperation with the Civil Aeronautics Board and others EU governments to make our case to the EU aviation sector this November," Gokongwei said. He added that the airline has complied with all of the recommendations put forward by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines but he did not offer any specific details of the airline's intentions in Europe.

As for the United States, there have been early indications that the Philippines may rise out of Category 2 status by the end of the year. Gokongwei says that when that happens, the airline will look at pursuing certain routes to the United States including Guam and Hawaii.

Meanwhile, Cebu Pacific accepted delivery of its second brand new Airbus A330 aircraft earlier this month. The 436-seater aircraft will be deployed on flights to Cebu and Hong Kong for the month of September until it is deployed on Cebu Pacific's first long haul route to Dubai scheduled to begin on October 7, 2013. 

Cebu Pacific also announced that it will upgrade its four weekly flights in October from Manila to Virac from a 72-seat ATR 72 aircraft to a 156-seat Airbus A319 jet. Earlier this year, airline and aviation officials were in Virac to confirm whether the airport could safely accommodate an A319 jet. The upgraded service will enable Cebu Pacific to increase competition with SkyJet Airlines that was previously the only airline offering jet service between Manila and Virac, the gateway to the Caramoan Islands. 


2 comments:

  1. Having seen the layout of Cebu Pacific's A330, I would pass on flying with them to Europe. The seating is grossly tight, perhaps the tightest in the industry, and an invitation to DVT (deep vein thrombosis) on a long haul.

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  2. With their quality of service or lack of it and headline prices not reflecting the real price, I would say goodluck to them. Europeans (esp British) like to complain and they won't take a smile for an answer.

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