Cebu Pacific Resumes Brunei & Adds Flights To Bangkok & Bali

Korea, Thailand and Indonesia have eased their pandemic restrictions, making it easier for fully vaccinated Filipinos to travel to these countries.

Despite a slower recovery pace than the rest of the world, travel demand within the Asia-Pacific region has been picking up at steady speeds. And as the year-end holiday approaches, Cebu Pacific looks toward bolstering its international network by increasing flight frequencies to some of its top Asia destinations from its hubs in Manila and Cebu.

Flying from Manila

Most Asian countries have eased their pandemic entry restrictions, making it much easier for fully vaccinated Filipinos to visit these countries as proof of complete vaccination is the only thing required. Returning to the Philippines is also much more convenient for boosted Filipinos as the requirement to take a pre-departure test was scrapped.

Thailand

Beginning next week from August 29th, Cebu Pacific will fly daily from Manila to the Thai capital city, an upgrade from its current five-times-weekly frequency, excluding Tuesdays and Sundays. The low-cost carrier operates between the Airbus A321neo and the Airbus A330-300s or the -900s for the three-hour-forty-minute route.

Flight number	Departure time	Arrival time	Frequency
5J 929 (MNL – BKK)	05:10	07:50	Daily
5J 930 (BKK – MNL)	09:05	13:35	Daily

Singapore Airshow 2022 - A330-900 Cebu Pacific on static

Bangkok is currently the only Thai destination in Cebu Pacific’s route network. Photo: Airbus

Indonesia

As for its Manila-Bali route, Cebu Pacific will increase the flight frequencies thrice to five times weekly, starting September 2nd. The airline currently only flies on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Considering that Bali is a tourist hotspot for its beaches and villas, the Filipino carrier decided to include the weekends into the schedule.

Flight number	Departure time	Arrival time	Frequency
5J 279 (MNL – DPS)	03:45	07:50	Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays
5j 280 (DPS – MNL)	08:35	12:50	Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays

Operating this route is a shuffle between the Airbus A320neos and the A321neos, with the former aircraft offering a seating capacity of 194 passengers. The slightly bigger Airbus A321neos offer somewhat more, with 236 seats. On average, either aircraft allow Cebu Pacific to offer anywhere between 1,940 to 2,360 seats weekly.

Brunei

The current expansion from its Manila hub is not complete without resuming its Manila-Brunei flight service for the first time since it was last operated on March 14th, 2020. The reinstatement of the route is scheduled from September 1st, with a twice-weekly frequency. Cebu Pacific previously used its older Airbus A320ceos to operate the route and could use the newer Airbus A320neos for the resumption.

Flight number	Departure time	Arrival time	Frequency
5J 409 (MNL – BWN)	19:30	21:40	Thursdays and Saturdays
5J 410 (BWN – MNL)	22:30	00:50 +1	Thursdays and Saturdays

Cebu_Pacific_Air,_Airbus_A320-200_RP-C3274_NRT_(16366414154)

Cebu Pacific used to operate the Manila-Brunei route with a thrice-weekly frequency on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Photo: Masakatsu Ukon via Wikimedia Commons

Flying from Cebu

As its Manila hub gets busy, the budget carrier is also increasing flight operations from its Cebu hub, but at a slightly later date and slower pace. Regardless, an increase in flight operations will always be a reason to celebrate, as expressed by Chief Commercial Officer Xander Lao as he says:

“We are happy to keep growing our international network as we see an increasing demand for travel abroad, and as more destinations ease restrictions. It is exciting and encouraging to see more Filipinos traveling confidently in and out of the Philippines, that is why we make sure we consistently provide convenient and afford

South Korea

Cebu Pacific currently flies twice-weekly to Seoul on Thursdays and Sundays and will be upgrading the frequency to become a daily service from September 9th. The airline uses its Airbus A320ceos for this route, so the frequency upgrade will allow it to offer approximately 2,520 seats weekly.

Flight number	Departure time	Arrival time	Frequency
5J 128 (CEB – ICN)	12:25	18:10	Daily
5J 129 (ICN – CEB)	18:55	22:50	Daily

Commenting on the increase of flights directly to Seoul, Corporate Communications Director Carmina Reyes-Romero said:

“These additional flights will enable more passengers from VisMin to fly to South Korea any day of the week so they may finally make their travel dreams a reality. This ramp-up just two months after the route is a testament to our commitment to everyone and reflects the travel demand amongst Filipinos and foreigners.”

A330-300 Cebu Pacific

Future route enhancements

While these are just the current expansions, Cebu Pacific has plenty more installed for the next few months, as from September 23rd, the Manila-Nagoya route will be touched up from five-times-weekly to daily flight services. And from October 1st, flight services to Hanoi will be improved with one additional flight per week, increasing the frequency from thrice to four times weekly.

The budget carrier’s frequency to Taipei will also have an extra weekly flight, which will see Cebu Pacific fly thrice weekly to the Taiwanese capital. All the route expansions come as the budget carrier reduced its net loss in the first half of this year and is focused on continuing to trim until it sees greener numbers again.

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Cebu Pacific Resumes Brunei & Adds Flights To Bangkok & Bali