Cebu Pacific to transfer Siargao, Masbate flights to Clark starting March 30
Cebu Pacific is moving its Masbate and Siargao flights from Manila to Clark.
Starting March 30, the Manila-Masbate-Manila and Manila-Siargao-Manila flights will be transferred to Clark.
This decision aligns with the directive to relocate turboprop operations from Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) to Clark International Airport and other secondary airports.
Consequently, direct flights from Manila to Surigao will be discontinued. Instead, passengers can connect via Cebu.
Affected passengers have the option to rebook their flights for free up to 30 days from their original flight date, store their credits in their travel fund, or get a full refund on their ticket, told Cebu Pacific Chief Strategy Officer Alex Reyes to TeleRadyo Serbisyo.
Last week, Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) head executive assistant Atty. Manuel Jeffrey David said the transfer of turboprop aircraft to Clark would allow NAIA to accommodate more passengers.
"Considering the limited capacity of the airport, parang, currently we’re running around 42 flights per hour po. So you call it flight slots. Alam naman po natin, na pag turboprop po, mas maliit po yung passenger capacity ng eroplano," said David.
"So by moving 30% of the capacity we also expect naman naman po na yung airlines natin would replace that with bigger airplanes, so mga A320s po that can accommodate more passengers," he explained.
Larger carriers like PAL Express and Cebgo are required to relocate their turboprop flights by the summer of 2025. Meanwhile, domestic airlines operating exclusively with turboprop aircraft or those that have five or fewer aircraft in their fleet, including Sunlight Air, Island Aviation, AirSWIFT, and Alphaland Aviation, are permitted to continue operating from NAIA until Summer 2026.
Turboprop aircraft are smaller, propeller-driven planes that carry fewer passengers, usually around 60. These aircraft are ideal for serving regional destinations in the Philippines which have smaller airports that cannot accommodate larger commercial jets.
