01/08/09, 03:29:25 UTC

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Philippine low-fare airline to add four flight routes to China

people.com.cn

Cebu Pacific Air, the second largest airline in the Philippines, will start direct flights from Manila to four Chinese cities in the next two months, a move likely to lure a growing number of Chinese outbound tourists who might cry off coming to the archipelago due to current high transportation costs.

The first of the four flights is expected to fly from the Philippine capital Manila to China's economic hub Shanghai on Sept. 12 and the other three routes will start operation on Sept. 27, Oct. 10 and Oct. 11 to Xiamen, Guangzhou, and Macao, all along China's rich and economic vibrant southeastern coast, the company told Xinhua.

In line with the company's "low fare" strategy, Cebu Pacific Air (CEB) set the lowest one-way fares excluding all taxes and surcharges at 1,999 pesos (about 42.5 U.S. dollars) for Manila- Guangzhou, Manila-Xiamen, and Manila-Macao routes, and to fly between Shanghai and Manila costs around 63.8 U.S. dollars at the lowest.

The "lowest fare" seats, though its number limited, is a reduction of as much as 70 percent from the existing year round discounted fare to these destinations.

Riding on the economy take-off, many urban Chinese have become rich in the past decade and grew an appetite for overseas traveling. While the rich prefer extravagant travels to Europe and money-splash shopping tours to Japan and South Korea, many young Chinese, especially young lovers, tend to explore the Southeast Asia on more affordable trips.

According to the Philippine Department of Tourism, some 73,000 Chinese traveled to the Philippines in the fist half of 2007, accounting for only 4.8 percent of the foreign travelers to the country. It is also a small number compared to 34 million Chinese tourists traveling overseas in 2006, including 800,000 to Thailand, according to previous reports.

Few flights and high costs, among others, are blamed for the gap.

"We look at this as a potential. With over 7,000 islands, the Philippines has a lot to offer as a country," CEB Vice President for Marketing and Product Candice Iyog told Xinhua. "China is a market we hope to build."

The Manila-Shanghai route is a daily service while flights will fly four times weekly to Xiamen and Guangzhou, three times weekly to Macao, she said, adding that the company is expecting an 80 percent seats occupation for China routes, which might transport a quarter of a million passengers in a full year operation.

At present, CEB operates direct flights to Hong Kong and Taipei among its current eight international destinations.

 Printable Version  | published Aug 27, 2007