CebuPac to fly to regional destinations from Clark

Budget airline Cebu Pacific said Tuesday that it plans to use Clark International Airport in Pampanga to for flights to its regional destinations. Cebu Pacific is a unit of Gokongwei-owned JG Summit Holdings Inc. In a statement sent to the media, Cebu Pacific said it wants to fly daily to Hong Kong, four-times a week to Singapore and Macau, three times a week to Bangkok and Taipei from the Clark airport. “If we get the necessary approvals from all the governments concerned, we will make Clark our third base and hub after Manila and Cebu," Cebu Pacific president and CEO Lance Y. Gokongwei said. “We hope to get a favorable response from all other governments considering that our own government has given their carriers similar rights to Clark," he added. Victor Jose I. Luciano, president and chief executive officer of the Clark International Airport Corp., welcomed the CEB plan. “Clark addresses a much-needed demand and this is shown in the exponential growth of passenger traffic and cargo volume in the relatively short time that it has been in operation as an international airport. With CEB there, we expect to grow faster," Luciano said. Cebu Pacific's plan, Gokongwei said, is also strategically important to the JG Summit unit since making Clark a base of aircraft and a hub for flights to and from various regional destinations gives the budget airline a major presence in Central Luzon, one of the country’s fastest growing regions, and in the whole of Northern Luzon. Gokongwei said he expects to carry about 300,000 passengers in and out of Clark per year initially but is confident of increasing this volume as Clark continues to spark growth in the region, being the gateway to the northern corridor. “We want to help accelerate the growth of the region as well as the commercial aviation market. We have done this in other parts of the country by offering our permanently low ‘GO’ fares and serving more destinations using our new Airbus fleet," Gokongwei said. - GMANews.TV