Cebu Pacific (CEB) has urged government to remove the cap on international passenger arrivals at the country’s main gateway to allow the industry to recover amid the pandemic.
“We’re working with the government to see if there’s a way we can remove the international arrival caps; it will aid recovery also and it does help the airline as you know, we’re far from out of the woods in terms of the revenue aspect,” Candice Iyog, CEB vice president for marketing and customer experience, said in a virtual briefing.
Air regulator Civil Aeronautics Board has imposed a passenger cap on international inbound arrivals at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) of 1,500 daily last March. It was increased to 2,000 daily last May. Still, this severely affects the international operation of the local airlines.
CEB now flies to 32 domestic destinations and five international destinations as of this month, mounting flights originating from Manila to Dubai, Hong Kong, Seoul, Tokyo and Singapore.
“We also recognized developing our hubs outside NAIA. If you remember our network for international is a little bit challenging because of the arrival cap,” Iyog said.
The airline’s current operation is just over 20 percent of the pre-pandemic level but this is seen to further increase as restrictions in both domestic and international travel ease up.
CEB is also accelerating digital initiatives over the last 18 months because when the demand for travel comes back, there will be higher expectations to be more digital to provide contactless services, said Iyog. – Myla Iglesias
