Fast-expanding Filipino low-cost carrier, Cebu Pacific, is to introduce a second link into Indonesia with a new service to the popular leisure destination of Bali to be added from its main base at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila. The airline will offer a twice weekly operation on the Manila – Denpasar route with effect from March 16, 2013.

Cebu Pacific made its debut in Indonesia in January 2007 when it inaugurated flights between Manila and Jakarta. The route was initially flown on a three times weekly basis but now has a fourth weekly rotation. The budget carrier competes directly with national entity Philippine Airlines in this market and secured a 25 per cent share of the O&D traffic in 2011 with fares less than half the price of its rival.

The timing of the launch of the Denpasar route will enable Cebu Pacific to provide additional capacity to Bali for the peak summer months. The carrier will again compete directly Philippine Airlines which launched its own twice weekly service between the destinations in June this year. An estimated 10,000 O&D passengers flew between Manila and Denpasar in 2011 despite the lack of direct flights.

Denpasar will be Cebu Pacific’s 20th international destination. The carrier has already positioned itself as the largest operator in the domestic market with a 46.0 per cent share of seat capacity this month and it plans to grow its international presence as new aircraft are delivered, including its first widebodied jets. Its network currently comprises Bangkok, Beijing, Brunei, Busan, Guangzhou, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, Hong Kong, Incheon, Jakarta, Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur, Macau, Osaka, Shanghai, Siem Reap, Singapore, Taipei and Xiamen, some destinations which it is the sole operator from Manila.

“Passengers now have more choices when traveling on Cebu Pacific’s extensive Southeast Asian network, since we are also the only airline flying from Manila to Hanoi and Siem Reap, and the only low-cost carrier flying from Manila to Kota Kinabalu,” said Candice Iyog, Vice President for Marketing and Distribution, Cebu Pacific.

Next year Cebu Pacific will expand its international network still further as it receives the first of eight Airbus A330s it has on order. It hasn’t yet formalised its operational plans for the type but it is likely to use the widebodied aircraft to introduce links to markets in Australia and the Middle East. In fact the carrier has now formally requested seat entitlements to operate from Manila to Australia, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

In the table below we highlight the largest operators in the Filipino international market by seat capacity this month. Cebu Pacific is currently ranked the second largest international operator in the Philippines with a 16.5 per cent capacity share but has seen its own international capacity grow 17.0 per cent compared with the same month last year. This is a growth market with capacity up 12.8 per cent on last year, and alongside Cebu Pacific there has been notable growth from Zestair and South Korean operators Asiana Airlines and Korean Air.