Cebu Pacific (CEB), the Philippines’ largest national flag carrier, mounts two special commercial flights from Dubai to Manila this September, as well as the resumption of its daily flights from Manila to Dubai by the end of this month as it rebuilds international operations.
The special commercial flights are scheduled on September 27 and 29, in response to the government’s call for assistance to repatriate overseas Filipinos in the Middle East. Hence, these flights are aptly called Bayanihan flights.
“Following the lifting of entry restrictions for Philippine-inbound flights from several countries including the UAE, we are glad to be able to bring home more Filipinos who want to fly home and be reunited with their loved ones through Bayanihan flights. It has opened more opportunities for us to serve and assist in the repatriation efforts for our kababayans from the Middle East,” said Candice Iyog, Vice President for Marketing and Customer Experience of Cebu Pacific.
Passengers may book and view their flights through the airline’s website www.cebupacificair.com.
Guests are required to present negative RT-PCR test results, taken within 48 hours before departure, amongst other travel guidelines issued by the governments of the Philippines and the UAE. Passengers may refer to the list of travel requirements here: https://bit.ly/CEBFlightReminders.
They are advised to update their contact details via http://bit.ly/CEBUpdateInfo to receive email notifications on flight reminders and updates. Before going to the airport, passengers are advised to check the safety protocols and frequently asked questions (FAQs) on the CEB website: http://bit.ly/CEBFaqs
Daily Manila-Dubai flights resume on September 30
Cebu Pacific has also announced the resumption of its daily flights from Manila to Dubai starting September 30.
Other reinstated air travels include flights to Kuala Lumpur starting October 4 and Fukuoka on November 5. The airline will also fly twice weekly to Nagoya starting October 2, and Osaka on October 4.
Meanwhile, CEB will increase its October flights to tourism havens such as Siargao, Boracay, and Bohol, in a bid to support the Philippine Department of Tourism’s push for local tourism and responsible travel.
Next month (October), the airline will expand its flights to Siargao from five times to six times weekly; raise its frequencies to Boracay from four to five times daily; and bump up flights to Bohol from nine to 10 times weekly.
“We believe reopening domestic travel and the promotion of responsible travel is critical to rebuilding the trust and travel confidence in the industry,” said Iyog.
CEB continues to offer the most flexible options with unlimited rebooking available for travellers, following the permanent removal of change fees in March 2021.
Innovation-led services transform CEB passengers’ experience
Due to COVID-19-induced health and safety protocols, CEB has ramped up its digital transformation efforts in order to innovate customer experience and booking behaviour – through its new technologies, products, and services offered.
“CEB has been revolutionising the future of travel in the country through its numerous digital innovations. We believe this is the way forward and we are on the right track as we continue to empower our passengers through our self-service processes. You can count on us to continue improving our service for everyone for #MoreSmilesAhead,” said Iyog.
The airline has enhanced its ‘Manage Booking’ portal to allow passengers to correct and update information such as misspelled names, birthdates, addresses. CEB’s chatbot named Charlie can now also instantly address more common concerns of guests.
To make flight experience convenient, CEB offers products like inflight meals, seats, baggage allowance, insurance, hotel partners, and transfers. These can all be easily added online via the CEB website or mobile app.
To date, about 95 per cent of CEB’s flying pilots and cabin crew are already vaccinated, and it expects to complete employee inoculation by October this year.
All these efforts have led to Cebu Pacific being awarded a 7-star safety rating by airlineratings.com for its COVID-19 compliance, the highest safety score that AirlineRatings.com bestows upon airlines.
CEB operates the widest domestic network in the Philippines covering 32 destinations, on top of its eight (8) international destinations. Its 73-strong fleet, one of the youngest in the world, includes two (2) dedicated ATR freighters and one (1) A330 freighter.
