Cebu Pacific to suspend flights to Kuwait, Doha, Riyadh

Budget carrier Cebu Pacific will suspend flight service to Kuwait, Riyadh and Doha as the company deemed routes no longer sustainable.

“The entry of Cebu Pacific into these markets benefited passengers with lower fares and more choices. Of late, other carriers have aggressively added more flights, which has resulted in substantial oversupply of seats and fares that are so low, hence making the routes unsustainable,” Cebu Pacific Vice President for Corporate Affairs JR Mantaring said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

“We have to continuously review our routes to ensure their viability. At this point, it makes more sense for us to re-deploy the aircraft used for our Riyadh, Doha and Kuwait service to routes where we can further stimulate demand and sustain our low fare offers," Mantaring noted.

The carrier said the last four-times-a-week flight to Kuwait will be June 13, while the return trip will be on June 14.

The thrice-weekly Manila-Doha-Manila route will have its last flight on July 1.

The last flight from Manila to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia will depart on July 2, 2017, while the Riyadh-Manila flight will leave on July 3.

"CEB will retain its other long-haul services to and from Dubai, United Arab Emirates; and Sydney, Australia, with a view to increasing frequencies to these destinations in the future," the airline said.

Passengers affected by the service suspension are being contacted. They will be given options to either rebook flights with other airlines or for earlier travel dates. They may also opt for a full refund, or place the full value of the ticket in a travel fund for a future trip. — Ted Cordero/VDS, GMA News