Low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific Air announced on Friday the resumption of international flights from Davao City, Philippines — the main international gateway to Mindanao — beginning in late October this year.
In a press release, Cebu Pacific said it plans to beef up its regional footprint with the reintroduction of flights from the Davao hub to Singapore Changi.
Starting October 30, 2022, the low-cost carrier will fly direct between Davao and Singapore every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. The Airbus A320neo will be deployed on flights between the two cities.
Flight 5J-715 will depart from the Francisco Bangoy International Airport at 5:15 pm and arrive at Singapore Changi Terminal 4 at 9:10 pm. The return flight, 5J-716, will depart Singapore at 9:55 pm and arrive back in Davao City at 1:40 am the next day.
“We are very excited to bring back this route as we know passengers in Mindanao have been waiting for more affordable and convenient flight options to fly abroad. Now that we’ve strengthened our operations from Manila, it’s time we move forward to growing our regional hubs as we work toward restoring 100% of our pre-pandemic capacity in the coming months,” said Xander Lao, CEB Chief Commercial Officer.
Cebu Pacific said the airline is the first local carrier to resume international flights from Davao. According to the airline, this move aligns with its plans to expand hubs outside Metro Manila.
The airline launched the Davao-Singapore service, with Davao-Hong Kong and Davao-Iloilo, in May 2008. However, the Davao-Singapore service was halted after a few years. Cebu Pacific relaunched the route on December 17, 2015. Once again, the airline suspended the route due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Singapore Airlines and its subsidiary Scoot operate direct flights between Davao and Singapore. The former operates daily flights onboard the Boeing 737-8 MAX, while the latter operates thrice-weekly flights onboard the Airbus A320neo.
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