Cebu Pacific : Realizing Every Filipino's Wish To Fly

One of the low-cost airlines which are operating in the Philippines is Cebu Air, Incorporated which was established in 1996. It is commonly known as Cebu Pacific and provides flights to international and domestic destinations.

It is presently the Philippines' top domestic carrier and serves most of the domestic destinations along with its biggest number of routes and flights. This airline's chief base is the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Parañaque City, Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Clark, Pampanga, Mactan-Cebu international Airport in Cebu and Francisco Bangoy International Airport in Davao. Its headquarters is located in Pasay City, Philippines.

Cebu Pacific is an airline that is fully-owned subordinate of JG Summit Holdings that is managed by the Gokongwei family - a rich Filipino-Chinese family based in the country. At present, the airline's head is Lance Gokongwei, the assumptive heir of chairman emeritus of JG summit, John Gokongwei. Although the airline was created in 1988, it was in 1996 when it started its operations. Two years after, it provisionally stopped its operation after it was grounded by the Philippine government due to market deregulation. The initial domestic destinations were:

* Metro Manila * Davao City, and; * Metro Cebu

By 2000, the airline was awarded the rights to administer international flights in several Asian countries such as:

* Guam * Singapore * Malaysia * Hong Kong * Thailand * Indonesia, and; * South Korea

The international flights from this airline were introduced in November 2001 and in March 2002, thrice-weekly flights to Seoul, Korea was commenced. With the effects of SARS epidemic, flights were suspended such as flights from manila through Subic to Seoul in December 2006 and flights to Singapore from November 2002 to January 2003. In August 2006, Manila-to-Singapore resumed and introduced direct Cebu-to-Singapore flights two months later. Its direct competitor was SilkAir, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines. After operating new flights, the airline announced an increase in flight frequency to Hong Kong and Singapore via Cebu. Since January 2008 from its Cebu base, the airline accommodates flights to:

* Singapore * Busan * Taipei * Bangkok, and; * Seoul-Incheon

From Manila, it operates flights to

* Singapore * Macau * Hong Kong * Bangkok * Jakarta * Kuala Lumpur * Taipei * Shanghai * Seoul-Incheon, and; * Xiamen

On June 2007, the airline announced its newest order of equal to 14 new ATR-72-500 aircrafts - 6 orders and 8 options. Five months later, Cebu Pacific revealed Francisco Bangoy International Airport in Davao as its 4th hub. Across the Philippines, the destinations of this airline are the following:

* Luzon * Cauayan (Cauayan Airport) * Legazpi (Legazpi Airport) * Busuanga (Francisco Reyes Airport) * Clark (Diosdado Macapagal International Airport) * Puerto Princesa (Puerto Princesa Airport) * Naga (Naga Airport) * Laoag (Laoag International Airport) * Tuguegarao (Tuguegarao Airport) * Manila (Ninoy Aquino International Airport) * Virac (Virac Airport) * San Jose (McGuire Airport) * Visayas * Caticlan (Godofredo P. Ramos Airport) * Bacolod (Bacolod-Silay City International Airport) * Iloilo (Iloilo International airport) * Tacloban (Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport) * Cebu (Mactan-Cebu International Airport) * Calbayog (Calbayog Airport) * Tagbilaran (Tagbilaran Airport) * Roxas City (Roxas Airport) * Dumaguete (Sibulan Airport) * Kalibo (Kalibo Airport) * Catarman (Catarman National Airport)

* Mindanao * Cagayan de Oro (Lumbia Airport) * Zamboanga (Zamboanga International Airport) * Davao (Francisco Bangoy International Airport) * General Santos (General Santos International Airport) * Dipolog (Dipolog Airport) * Butuan (Bancasi Airport) * Surigao (Surigao Airport) * Ozamis (Labo Airport) * Cotabato (Awang Airport) * Siargao (Sayak Airport)

Passengers can log on to their website http://www.cebupacificair.com to book flights. With its 47 different destinations, Cebu Pacific catchphrase is "It's time everyone flies!".