Cebu Pacific seeking additional flight rights to Singapore

Cebu Pacific is seeking additional flight entitlements to Singapore, as the Philippine-based budget airline filed a petition with the Philippine Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) by its parent firm Cebu Air Inc.

With a hearing scheduled on September 24, Cebu Pacific is seeking the additional flight rights under the Multilateral Agreement on the Full Liberalization of Passenger Air Services (MAFLPAS) of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Through the MAFLPAS, ASEAN states removed capacity restrictions and created an open-skies environment for passenger flights within ASEAN. Participating countries allow designated airlines to operate international services without flight frequency or aircraft type restrictions.

Cebu Pacific currently operates flights from three cities to Singapore: Manila, Clark, and Cebu, using a mix of narrowbody Airbus A320/A321 and widebody Airbus A330neo aircraft. Among the three routes, the airline operates up to three flights a day on the Manila-Singapore route. Thrice-weekly flights on the Iloilo-Singapore route will be resume on November 23.

Philippine Airlines operates up to four daily flights from Manila to Singapore, while Singapore Airlines operates five daily flights to Manila and once-daily to Cebu. Scoot operates flights to five cities in the Philippines: Clark, Manila, Cebu, Iloilo, and Davao.

According to data from Flightradar24, the Manila-Singapore route is served by up to 79 weekly flights making it the second busiest international routes from Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) after the Manila-Hong Kong route.