Local airline operators have assured air travel will remain affordable this December as promo offers continue and the fuel surcharge level is unchanged on the back of lower jet fuel prices.
In an advisory last Friday, Carmelo Arcilla, Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) executive director, said the fuel surcharge level for passenger and cargo services will be maintained at level 8 for December 1 to 31.
At level 8, passengers traveling this December may be charged P253 to P787 for domestic flights and for international flights, from P835 to P6,208, depending on the distance.
CAB said airlines that will impose or collect fuel surcharge for that period must file an application with the agency on or before the effectivity period.
Meanwhile, Philippine Airlines (PAL), Cebu Pacific (CEB) and AirAsia Philippines will continue to offer affordable fares and to ramp up their domestic and international operations to address the anticipated surge in demand.
“We will comply with the CAB level 8 matrix for fuel surcharge for tickets to be purchased in December. We have ongoing program partnerships which provide promo rates that help ease the burden among our customers,” Cielo Villaluna, PAL spokesperson, said in a statement.
PAL is also ramping up flights in time for the holiday season.
“We are ramping up new flights from our Cebu hub. On December 1, we are opening the Cebu-Cotabato-Tawi-Tawi route. On December 9, we are restoring our Cebu-Bangkok route. By December 16, we will launch our Cebu-Baguio flights and on December 19, our Cebu-Borongan route,” PAL said.
For AirAsia Philippines, its 21st birthday sale from November 28 to December 4 is offering P21 base fare to Caticlan, Cagayan De Oro, Seoul, Osaka and other domestic and international destinations.
This will be followed by a 21 percent discount on all seats for all flights from December 5 to 11, 2022.
“While we all share the optimism on a more stable fuel price in the days ahead, we at AirAsia stay committed to providing our guests with best value deals that will allow them to travel more during the holidays,” said AirAsia Philippines.
“All these efforts are proven to be effective in terms of sustaining the pent-up demand for air travel as reflected in the forward bookings for 0-90 days. IThe load factor for the month of November is now at 87 percent and still increasing,” it added in a statement.
Cebu Pacific said it maintains overall affordability of air travel by consistently offering seat sales. – Myla Iglesias
