Local airlines are aggressively offering affordable airfare to further boost air travel demand in the domestic market until next year amid the easing of travel restrictions.
In a statement, Cebu Pacific Inc. (CEB) said it is offering a special seat sale rate of P25 one-way base fare to over 56 domestic routes from December 12 to 14 and travel period starts from July 1 to Nov.30, 2022.
CEB, which now operates above 60 percent of its pre-pandemic domestic network, has added more flights to key domestic destinations, namely, Bacolod, Bohol, Boracay, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Davao, General Santos and Iloilo, following the easing of travel restrictions.
“This year, we celebrated our 25th anniversary and remain true to our core purpose, which is to enable everyJuan to fly. We continue to ramp-up our network to address the anticipated demand in 2022, while continuing to promote safe and responsible travel amidst the pandemic,” said Candice Iyog, CEB vice president for marketing and customer experience.
The airline has also included 23 international destinations for its seat sale, such as Bangkok, Dubai, Fukuoka, Taipei, Nagoya, Osaka, Tokyo (Narita), among others.
CEB has resumed its operations to Fukuoka every Tuesday, and to Bangkok every Thursday and Saturday.
Flights to Taiwan will resume on December 15 and will operate once weekly (every Wednesday) moving forward, CEB said. It also intends to resume its direct flights to Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Macau and Saigon by January 2021.
The airline likewise continues to offer unlimited rebooking coupled with waiving of change fees for all, providing assurance to passengers who might have last-minute change of plans.
AirAsia Philippines, meanwhile, is offering P20 base fare in most of its domestic destinations and continues to ramp up its flight frequencies to meet the surge in demand for air travel during the Christmas season.
In celebration of AirAsia’s 20th birthday, passengers may avail of the P20 base fare if they book until December 20 from Manila to Cebu, Puerto Princesa, Iloilo, Cagayan de Oro, Davao, Kalibo, General Santos, Zamboanga and Bacolod. Travel period is from December 1, 2021, up to September 30, 2022.
To date, AirAsia Philippines said it has restored 30 percent of its pre-pandemic capacity, doubling and tripling its frequencies for most of its domestic destinations.
“We are banking on ‘revenge travel’ for a very strong 2022 recovery. People now have the confidence to plan for their future trips as reflected in the forward bookings from 31-120 days. This booking behavior can be significantly attributed to the continuing downtrend of daily COVID-19 infections and the ongoing progress of the government’s nationwide vaccination program,” said Steve Dailisan, AirAsia Philippines spokesperson.
As of December this year, AirAsia Philippines increased flights originating from Manila to Puerto Princesa, Iloilo, Cagayan, Caticlan, Tacloban, Tagbilaran, Cebu, Cagayan, Davao, Zamboanga and General Santos. The airline also returned to Singapore and Hong Kong.
