Cebu Pacific, AirAsia Zest, Tigerair and Philippine Airlines race to add flights to Japan

The Philippines-Japan market is poised to see a huge influx of capacity, driven primarily by expansion from Philippine low-cost carriers. The expansion is made possible by a new air services agreement between the two countries and the lifting of restrictions by Japanese authorities on Philippine carriers.

Cebu Pacific Air, which currently only serves one destination in Japan with three weekly flights, is seeking the biggest expansion with at least 80 additional weekly flights and eight new destinations. AirAsia is planning to enter the Philippines-Japan market with 32 weekly flights while Tigerair is looking to enter with 56 weekly flights.

Philippine Airlines (PAL) and its regional subsidiary PAL Express are seeking to add 63 weekly flights. PAL is currently the market leader with 31 weekly flights to Japan. In the total there are currently only 76 weekly flights between the two countries, a figure which should quickly double and possibly triple depending on how many of the proposed new flights are implemented.