CEBU Air Inc. (CEB) subsidiary Cebgo Inc. will start a four-times-a-week service to Sandakan, Malaysia from Zamboanga starting October 29, Cebgo President and CEO Alexander Lao announced on Wednesday.
Aside from flying to Sandakan, Lao said Cebgo will also strengthen its interisland-route network with the opening of thrice-weekly services from Cagayan de Oro to Dumaguete and Caticlan. The services will start on October 20. The announcement failed to boost CEB’s stock price of P101.10 at the opening of trading on Wednesday, as it shed .10 percent to close at P101.
On the other hand, CEB’s Cebu Pacific Air will start operating a thrice-weekly Kalibo-Clark service starting October 30, linking those from the north to Boracay Island.
“Sandakan has had centuries of trade and cultural linkage with the southern Philippines, and we are especially proud to put in place infrastructure to further enhance these ties,” Lao was quoted in a statement as saying. “Now, the previous 14-hour travel by sea is cut down to just a 40-minute airplane ride.”
The new Sandakan route under CEB’s Cebu Pacific network supports the drive for seamless logistics connectivity within the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asia Growth Area (Bimp-Eaga), Lao said.
Trade and Investment Assistant Secretary Arturo P. Boncato Jr. said he considers CEB’s move as “part of a pillar in the development of the Asean trade group”. “The new route would offer better service to the traveling public and open greater opportunities for trade, investment and tourism with Western Mindanao as a growing regional gateway to the Philippines,” Boncato said.
Created in 1994, the Bimp-Eaga comprises the entire Borneo Island, which is divided between Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia; Mindanao; and other Indonesian provinces, such as Sulawesi and Maluku. It was meant to harness capabilities to turn the entire area into a thriving economic and tourism center. “We are already seeing this route to complement the proposed Tawi-Tawi Special Economic and Freeport Zone Development efforts, given that Sandakan is one of Mindanao’s direct links to a larger Eaga economy,” Mindanao Development Authority Chairman Datu HJ Abul Khayr Alonto said. Lorenz S. Marasigan
The Cebu Pacific route network is now comprised of 27 international and 37 domestic destinations. Its fleet of aircraft is comprised of three Airbus A319, 36 Airbus A320 and eight Airbus A330; while the Cebgo fleet is composed of eight ATR 72-500, and six ATR 72-600 aircraft.