Cebu Pacific Launches Doha Flights, Ditches Dammam

Less than one month after revealing that it would close its route to Dammam, Cebu Pacific, the largest low-cost carrier in the Philippines, announced that it would launch twice weekly flights from Manila to Doha. The maiden flight is expected to take off on June 4. 

cebu pacific a330
Copyright Photo: Angelo Agcamaran/PPSG
Doha is the capital city of Qatar and the hub of Qatar's national flag carrier, Qatar Airways. Cebu Pacific will compete directly with Qatar on the route. However, it will be the only Philippine carrier flying between the two cities as Doha is not currently served by Philippine Airlines. 

The entry of Cebu Pacific is welcome news for overseas Filipino workers as airfares offered by the budget airline are expected to be nearly 50 percent lower than other carriers. Cebu Pacific hopes that offering lower fares will stimulate the market and enable Filipinos to travel home more frequently.

Nearly 200,000 overseas Filipino workers currently live in Qatar. As the only Philippine carrier serving the route, Cebu Pacific hopes to tap into this lucrative market. "Filipino expats can fly home more often or their families can visit them in Qatar," Alex Reyes, General Manager of Cebu Pacific's Long Haul Division said.

The service to Doha departs Manila every Monday and Thursday at 9:35pm, arriving in Doha at 2:45am the following day. The return flight departs Doha every Tuesday and Friday at 4:15am, arriving in Manila at 6:35pm. Travellers will be able to connect at NAIA Terminal 3 to Cebu Pacific flights bound for other destinations.

The 9.5 hour flight will be operated by Cebu Pacific's 436-seat Airbus A330-300. While travellers can expect low fares, they should be prepared to pay extra for hot meals, baggage, wireless internet, and seats with additional legroom.

"We are excited to offer Cebu Pacific's trademark low fares to travellers in Doha, especially since we are the only low-cost carrier operating this route," said Reyes. Meanwhile, Reyes cited poor load factor as the reason the carrier announced the cancellation of its flights between Manila and Dammam last month. "We decided to suspend services for now, as loads on the Dammam-Manila sector are poor," said Reyes. 

Cebu Pacific operated the route to Dammam for five months starting with three weekly flights when it launched in October of last year. But in February, the airline scaled back service to two weekly flights. The aircraft that was previously used on the route will now be deployed to stronger routes.

Reyes believes that Cebu Pacific's straight forward product is ideal for the price-conscious overseas Filipino workers in the Middle East. "If people who buy Cebu Pacific tickets see the immediate savings on their flights to and from the Philippines, then we've succeeded in meeting their expectations," said Reyes. "We've already seen promising results in our other Middle East destinations. This low-cost strategy is how we can enable people to fly to Doha, for the cost of approximately five movie tickets in the Philippines."

Unlike legacy carriers that offer all-inclusive pricing, Cebu Pacific offers unbundled fares so that passengers only pay for the services they want. Whether it's wireless internet, bottled water, or blankets, Cebu Pacific passengers will be charged additional fees. The same applies for baggage, seat selection, and hot meals. 

The strategy seems to be working for Cebu Pacific, which recently reported a 67 percent increase in profits. According to Cebu Pacific's Chief Executive Advisor, Garry Kingshott, by the end of last year, the airline had already managed to capture 30 percent of the market on the Manila to Sydney route. Kingshott also forecasts growth on the Kuwait and Dubai routes.

"We've seen positive uptake in the first quarter with fairly solid bookings for the March to April period," said Kingshott. "With true price competition, we can stimulate traffic. My sense is that we're over the hump on the long haul operations."

42 comments:

  1. Never mind International flights what about domestic flights - higher prices cos of lower competition.

    Also want to see more inter islands maybe as a Dog Leg to MNL...???

    ReplyDelete
  2. And do not forget your passengers waiting from North America! We thought you would have started last month (March, 2015). What seems to be the problem? Come on, this is U.S. of A, and not Dammam!!! Your A330s can fly to HNL like those flying high profit-enjoying Chinese airlines, four or five of them!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I prefer paying more for comfort. Can you imagine being packed like sardines in a nine hour flight?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Me, too. But I want to see some other options like flying with LCC carriers. If it works for me, well and good; if not, save money and fly SQ, OZ and KE in that order. As a FilAm, I also want to see Philippine businesses like CebuPac to prosper and employ their countrymen.........remember, charity begins at home!!!

      Delete
    2. so shut up and never fly will LLC

      Delete
    3. never fly with llc?!

      Delete
    4. BOBO talaga mga Pilipino.

      Delete
    5. Korek. BOBO TALAGA MGA PILIPINO. WALANG KWENTA SA ULO.

      Delete
  4. Cebu Pacific is a major air-accident waiting to happen. Cebu Pacific';s corporate culture is profit before service and profit before safety. Just last Thursday, April 9, my fiancee was on a Cebu Pacific flight from General Santos City to Manila that landed so heavily several windows cracked, yes, cracked!
    How much more heavily would have caused a catastrophic crash with passengers dying? I suppose not mulch more heavily.
    Did Cebu Pacific apologize for scaring the pants off of passengers? No, of course not, they just gave the same meaningless "We thank you for making us your choice today....." drivel.
    Avoid Cebu Pacific if you can; they are a major air-accident waiting to happen.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i dont think so...cebu pacific has a very good maintenance services,in fact cebu pacific is part owner of SIA engeneering

      Delete
  5. Ah look what we have here. It seems my favorite Airline, Cebu Pacific has dropped a destination. Now you see, they are simply no match for long-haul Flights. How can you expect this tin can Airline to fly to U.S with its horrible service? You pinoys like to praise this stupid ass Airline like they are gods and it seems majority of the people commenting on this site are Cebu Pathetic fanboys or ex-employees.

    Sincerely
    Mr. Hong Kong

    Philippine's #1 Business associate

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mr. Hong Kong, you really sound like you are from Kuli-Kuli. Why not be honest about yourself? It's very obvious!

      Delete
    2. Honest about myself? I speak the god damn truth about Cebu Pacific. Have you not read my comments on this site? What about YOU? Stop lying to yourself that Cebu Pacific is the best Airline when they provide poor service.

      What the fuck is Kuli-Kuli? It makes sense i come from Hong Kong not Kuli-Kuli. Open your eyes.

      Delete
    3. you sound like a bum poppin' out from manila slum...oh wait,everytime you bad mouthed pal or cebu pacific the two birds post profites.

      Delete
    4. Bad mouth PAL? Since when?
      I hate Cebu Pacific after they fucked up twice when i flown with them. I am appauled how you pinoys even fly with this LCC.

      Delete
    5. Correct your spelling: APPALLED.
      I wonder, Hongkong residents are good English/British spellers and writers. You are not from Hongkong, really! Do not worry about us Pinoys flying Cebu Pacific because we treat it as our own!. Do something worthwhile, will you? Good-bye forever, man from the squatter!

      Delete
  6. Cebu Pacific, just come to USA and we will accept you with wide open arms. Come on!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. because no one care on you third world citizen

      Delete
    2. You calling me a Third World citizen?'
      LOL

      If i were from a Third World Citizen, i wouldn't be bitching at you right Mr. Juan? Go fly your so called Prestige Airline, Cebu Pathethic :)

      Delete
  7. This is why folks i said in my comment above
    "majority of the people commenting on this site are Cebu Pathetic fanboys or ex-employees."

    Looks like you are another one of those dumb pinoy anons that praise this GOD of an airline that you Filipinos seem proud of.

    Profits? New Destinations? They can't even keep their long-haul Flights financially stable.

    ReplyDelete
  8. c'mon the whole philippines wont listen to you.just shut your filthy mouth...pabigat ka lang at di nakakatulong bakla ka!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Mr. Hong Kong is a PAL grandmother taken out of active duty and given a pa-consuelo-de-bobo assignment to comment negatively against PAL's competitors.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are wrong my friend. I talk negatively towards Cebu Pacific only. I prefer to fly PAL Express or AirAsia Zest when i need to fly domestic to meet up with Business clients in Davao, Cebu, and Kalibo. Fuck Cebu Pacific.

      Delete
    2. Bakla,bakla,bakla..chupa ng titi sa cebu pacific....liar ang baklang ito di ka naman taga hongkong kundi mainlander chinese na balahura.lol....

      Delete
    3. At paanong businessman ito ay puro "tae" and kadumi ng kanyang lingo? Ano kaya ang nakain nitong baklang ito, kawawa naman siya, nagpahallata na siya tuloy! Haaaaaaaay, diyos ko FIH.........................

      Delete
    4. Baka businessman ng shabu itong baklang mr.hk na to....

      Delete
  10. dont pretend bakla ang english grammar mo ay pang pinoy...masyadong halata.uy huwag mo idamay si google translate baka masira mo ang image ng google.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hoy bakla may bagong kabaklaan soap opera sa gma nood ka bagay sa yo na bakla.gamitin mo ang google translate kuno lol

    ReplyDelete
  12. Oh really? Am the star of the show? That's wonderful. I bet you are jerking off in front of your TV just to see me. Mr. Bakla, go watch you mindless fuckery on TV and never post again on this site.

    ReplyDelete
  13. One more thing biatch.

    If i am a waste of web space for you, how about you breed more spiders to create more web space? I certainly need that.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Go Go Cebu Pacific and carry the Philippine flag to your next destination, the USA

    ReplyDelete

Powered by Blogger.