BUDGET carrier Cebu Pacific’s plans to launch flights from Manila to Guam and Hawaii by the fourth quarter this year still depends on how fast regulators would act upon the airline’s petitions, Lance Y. Gokongwei said.
Eager customers, however, will have to hold their horses as regulators have yet to release their decision on the carrier’s various applications, the president of Cebu Pacific said.
“We can use our Airbus A330s for our planned flights to Hawaii, and the A320s to Guam. Hopefully, we can launch before the end of the year. We just have to secure necessary approvals, like slots and others.”
These two additional routes, when launched, would be Cebu’s sixth and seventh long-haul destinations, joining four in the Middle East and Sydney, Australia.
Cebu Pacific, according to aviation think tank Centre for Asia-Pacific Aviation, had its eyes focused on launching flights to US territories since the Federal Aviation Administration, in April 2014, upgraded the Philippines to a Category 1 safety rating.
Its desire to expand to the US was also reflected, according to the research agency, on its recent certification for extended diversion time operations of 120 minutes, which is needed to use the most direct and efficient routing for long-haul routes.
Cebu Pacific is now waiting for final approval from the US Transport Security Administration, which has to complete an assessment of Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 before Cebu Pacific can serve the US.