Cebu Pacific long-haul low-cost part 2: new period of growth begins as five destinations are added

Cebu Pacific Air is planning to grow its long-haul network from one to six destinations over the next six months. In addition to the already announced new destinations of Sydney and Kuwait, the Philippine low-cost carrier is close to setting a launch date and beginning ticket sales for Dammam and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.

Cebu Pacific is also aiming to launch Honolulu in early 2015 and is keen to secure additional traffic rights to the UAE to enable the launch of Sharjah. Cebu Pacific already serves Dubai, its only current long-haul destination which is now performing relatively well following an extremely disappointing initial performance.

The forthcoming network expansion will provide the biggest test yet for Cebu Pacific's long-haul unit. In the first 14 months of widebody operations Cebu Pacific has mainly used its fleet of A330-300s to operate regional routes.