Business Times - 19 Jul 2006

Cebu Pacific to fly into S'pore budget terminal

SINGAPORE - Manila's Cebu Pacific Air will resume flights to Singapore in August and become the second carrier to use the city-state's new Budget Terminal, aviation authorities said on Wednesday. It will offer a daily service between Singapore and Manila.

'Cebu Pacific's decision to operate from the simple and functional budget terminal will suit the airline's business model better as it will benefit from cost savings resulting from the terminal's low cost operating environment,' said director-general of civil aviation from the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) Wong Woon Liong.

http://business-times.asiaone.com/mnt/media/image/launched/2006-07-19/cebupacific.jpg

Cebu Pacific will be up against two low-cost carriers serving the Singapore-Manila route - Singapore-based Jetstar and Tiger Airways, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines. The carrier, the country's second largest after Philippine Airlines with a domestic market share of more than 40 per cent, also said it will offer promotional fares to Singapore to mark its re-entry starting Aug 31.

The airline, which now has 17 domestic routes and flies to international destinations such as Hong Kong and Seoul, said in a statement it would resume the service after steady growth in traffic between Singapore and Manila since 2003. Nearly 320,000 Filipinos visited Singapore last year, a 30 per cent rise from 2004, it said.

The Philippine carrier, controlled by the family of tycoon John Gokongwei, suspended the loss-making route to Singapore in 2003 barely three months after its launch as demand for travel was slashed due to the Sars outbreak. -- REUTERS, AFP

Copyright © 2005 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

19 July 2006
Cebu Pacific to use S'pore budget terminal

A second airline has chosen to operate out of Singapore's budget airline terminal at Changi..

The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore says it has given the go-ahead to Philippines-based Cebu Pacific to fly between Singapore and the Philippines.

It adds the airline will start operations at the budget terminal late next month.

Cebu Pacific will be sharing the terminal with Singapore Airlines-backed Tiger Airways, which started operations there in March.

The Philippine budget carrier abandoned the Singapore-Manila route in 2003 but is resuming flights to take advantage of the increase in passenger traffic.

CAAS said since the terminal opened in March this year, it has seen a 40 percent increase in flights.

On its part, the airline says it expects traffic between Singapore and Manila to growth further.

It'll initially sell one-way tickets for flights to Singapore at 49 dollars excluding surcharges and taxes.

Later, its lowest-priced ticket for the route will start at 79 dollars one-way.

Copyright © 2006 MediaCorp Radio New Media Development

thats nice...adds some variety :)

^ Yeah.....a good move by CAAS too (to get Cebu back to Singapore)...:D

Have you guys seen the schedules? It leaves manila at 8:30pm, arrives in Singapore before midnight, leaves a bit after midnight, and then arrives in Manila at around 4am. Who would want to fly on that? Oh well, at least there won't be much traffic during those times.

Business Times - 20 Jul 2006

Cebu Pacific to resume flights to Singapore

By VEN SREENIVASAN

(SINGAPORE) Cebu Pacific of the Philippines has signed up as the second airline to use Singapore's $45 million Budget Terminal at Changi Airport.

The Civil Aviation of Singapore yesterday announced that the low-cost carrier would resume flights to Singapore next month, joining Tiger Airways at the Budget Terminal.

Tiger, an associate of Singapore Airlines, has been the sole user of the terminal since March this year. Cebu Pacific's daily flights will increase the total number of weekly scheduled flights at the Budget Terminal from the current 174 to 188.

Cebu Pacific, which is owned by John Gokongwei's JG Summit Group, is said to be speaking to Singapore Airport Terminal Services (Sats) for its ground handling services. However, a source at Swissport - which Tiger Airways uses for ground services at the Budget Terminal - told BT that his company was also close to a deal with the Philippine budget carrier.

Cebu Pacific, which also flies between the Philippines and China, South Korea and Hong Kong, will be competing with two other Singapore-based budget carriers on the Singapore-Philippines route. Tiger flies to Clark, while Qantas-controlled Jetstar Asia flies directly into Manila's main international airport.

But unlike Tiger, Jetstar Asia has refused to move to the Budget Terminal from Terminal 1 saying that such a move would inconvenience passengers when planned interlining arrangements with parent, Qantas and Australian-based sister carrier Jetstar, begin later this year.

Thai AirAsia, which has daily flights to Bangkok, has also decided against moving to the Budget Terminal.

Meanwhile, BT understands that the Budget Terminal could soon see a third airline customer - Air India Express.

The low-fare offshoot of Air India is expected to start operations to Singapore later this year, after ironing out some logistical and operational issues. The Indian budget carrier recently invited tenders for ground services at Singapore.

Air India Express' Chennai-Singapore flights will not mean a withdrawal of the parent airline's service to the same destination, according to the airline's regional manager for South-east Asia, Sulekha Shrivastava.

She told BT recently that both airlines would serve different market niches.

The decision to build the Budget Terminal, which is about a five-minute drive from Changi Airport's main terminals, was made in 2004 in response to the emerging trend to low-cost travel in the region.

Copyright © 2005 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Have you guys seen the schedules? It leaves manila at 8:30pm, arrives in Singapore before midnight, leaves a bit after midnight, and then arrives in Manila at around 4am. Who would want to fly on that? Oh well, at least there won't be much traffic during those times.

maybe its cheaper for them?

maybe its cheaper for them?

The longer the plane parks at the terminal at Changi, they would pay more.

So they have no choice but to turn the plane around and take off. This is why...

maybe its cheaper for them?
although theres less traffic, it should cost more operating after hours, not to mention lower passenger demand. thinkn bout it since it cost more to hire staff working pass mindnight as oppose to a 9to5 staff, the extra cost should be passed to the airline right?

Think about it though, if you earn $500 a month (or whatever it is the Filipina maids earn), would you (or your employer) rather pay big bucks to fly back to Legaspi or Zamboanga with Singapore Airlines or suffer the inconvienence of the weird flying hours but to pay less to get back?

although theres less traffic, it should cost more operating after hours, not to mention lower passenger demand. thinkn bout it since it cost more to hire staff working pass mindnight as oppose to a 9to5 staff, the extra cost should be passed to the airline right?

Nope - u dun need alot of staff. Just few staff would handle one flight. This is it.