BUDGET carrier Cebu Pacific has opened its own office in Japan to further boost its presence in the East Asian nation which, company officials said, still has a lot more room for growth.
Cebu Pacific Chief Executive Adviser Mike Szcus said the company’s opening of the office in Tokyo, Japan—part of the airline’s expansion efforts in the Asia-Pacific region—will serve as the hub for all the airline’s activities and business transactions in Japan.
Aside from business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-customer (B2C) transactions such as group-reservation services, ticket sales and customer support, it will also drive the marketing strategies and promotional activities of Cebu Pacific in Japan.
“Our very own branch office in Japan symbolizes the next stage of growth into the Japanese market which has become one of the most important across our network. This is about as looking to improve our offering to the Japanese customer,” Szcus said.
Tomohiko Matsumoto, appointed country manager for Japan in December 2017, said opportunities for trade and tourism between Japan and the Philippines are immense.
“Our vision is to bridge the gap between the Japanese market and Cebu Pacific. Cebu Pacific Air, with year-round low-cost fares, gives Japanese travelers more options and more choices. We look forward to enticing more Japanese to visit the Philippines and fly with Cebu Pacific Air,” he said.
Now on its 10th year of operations in Japan, Cebu Pacific mounts a total of 70 flights a week between Japan and the Philippines.
It flies between Manila and Narita, Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka, as well as between Cebu and Narita, utilizing its fleet of Airbus A330 and A320 aircraft for these routes.
“In 2017 we flew over 435,000 passengers between the Philippines and Japan. Compared to the number of Japanese travelers, there is much room to grow. We want to offer a compelling travel product for the Japanese market—air service that is efficient, affordable and safe,” Cebu Pacific Vice President Alex B. Reyes said.
Cebu Air Inc.’s profits grew by 12 percent to P1.44 billion during the first quarter of 2018, as revenues increased by 8.3 percent to P18.62 billion, while expenses rose by 11.8 percent to P14.3 billion.
Cebu Air is the operator of budget carrier Cebu Pacific, which has an extensive route network serving 71 domestic routes and 37 international routes with a total of 2,622 scheduled weekly flights.
It operates from seven hubs, including the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Terminal 3 and Terminal 4 both located in Pasay City, Metro Manila; Mactan-Cebu International Airport located in Lapu-Lapu City, part of Metropolitan Cebu; Diosdado Macapagal International Airport located in Clark, Pampanga; Davao International Airport located in Davao City, Davao del Sur; Iloilo International Airport located in Iloilo City, regional center of the western Visayas region; and Kalibo International Airport in Kalibo, Aklan and Laguindingan Airport in Misamis Oriental.
As of end-March, the airline operated a fleet of 63 aircraft, with an average aircraft age of about 5.09 years.