DOMINANT low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific (CEB) is expanding its operations to the US with its planned mounting of flights to Honolulu by mid-2015.
This was learned from the Department of Foreign Affairs DFA on Tuesday, reporting that executives from the airline expressed the carrier’s interest in launching its services to Hawaii.
CEB will have three weekly flights to Honolulu starting 2015, a move that would open more opportunities for business and tourism travels for both Filipinos and Americans through its offer of competitive airfare.
The move came after the US Federal Aviation Authority reinstated the Philippines’s civil-aviation sector to Category 1 status early this year.
The dominant budget carrier offers flights to 28 international destinations—Bali, Bangkok, Beijing, Brunei Darussalam, Busan, Dammam, Dubai, Guangzhou, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, Hong Kong, Incheon (Seoul), Jakarta, Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, Macau, Nagoya, Narita, Osaka Phuket, Riyadh, Shanghai, Siem Reap, Singapore, Sydney, Taipei and Xiamen.
It also operates the most extensive airline network in the Philippines, with 55 routes and 44 destinations.
Cebu Air Inc. posted a net loss of P1.1 billion in the third quarter of 2014, significantly higher than the P750.1-million loss in the same three-month period the year prior.
Total revenues increased by 32.4 percent annually to P11.7 billion in the third quarter of the year, as passenger revenues surged by 34.2 percent to P8.9 billion, and ancillary revenues rose 27.9 percent to P2 billion.
Expenses, on the other hand, grew to P11 billion from P9.5 billion, resulting in the widened losses in the third quarter. However, its bottom line expanded by more than 213 percent to P2.1 billion in the first nine months of 2014, from P664.1 million in 2013.
In the same comparative periods, revenues rose by 25.7 percent to P38.4 billion from P30.6 billion, while expenses surged by a slower 25.3 percent to P35.6 billion from P28.4 billion.
Shares of Cebu Air ended Tuesday’s trading at P72.60 apiece.
Meanwhile, CEB said it is cooperating with the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG) to apprehend fraudsters posing as official sales agents of CEB and initiate fake transactions on behalf of the airline on Facebook.
CEB forwarded names, IP addresses and the transaction details of all reported fraudsters to the PNP for their immediate action, and also to Facebook for immediate account termination.
The fraudulent pages use CEB branding to pose as an official transaction page for the airline. Fraudsters also request payments to be transferred via remittance to specific individuals, and not to CEB.
Once apprehended and proven to have violated the Cybercrime Law (Republic Act 10175), fraudsters may face imprisonment of up to 12 years and penalties of at least P200,000, or both. Fraudsters may also be prosecuted and held liable for violation of other penal laws.
“We encourage the traveling public to book their flights through the official Cebu Pacific Air web site or reservation hotlines, and to transact with legitimate sales agents to prevent fraud and inconvenience. We are working closely with the PNP-ACG to protect our passengers from fraudsters, whether online or in other channels,” said lawyer Jorenz Tañada, CEB Air, vice president for corporate affairs.
Those who want to report fraudsters may file a complaint with the PNP-ACG via e-mail: investigation.acotd.acg@gmail.com, or through the PNP-ACG web site: https://pnpacg.ph/
With Recto Mercene and Jae Denise Adolfo