Cebu Pacific of the Philippines has placed an order with Airbus for seven A321ceo to meet ongoing strong growth on its domestic and regional network. The aircraft will start joining the carrier’s fleet next year.
“We are very excited about adding the A321 to our fleet,” said Lance Gokongwei, Cebu Pacific President and CEO. “The aircraft will enable us to increase capacity on popular routes, while at the same time benefiting from the lowest operating costs in this size category. This will mean more low fares for more customers flying across our domestic and regional network.”
"We are pleased to sign this additional order with one of the most successful airlines in the Asian region,” said John Leahy, Airbus Chief Operating Officer, Customers. “With the A321 Cebu Pacific will be able to respond to growing demand with the highest levels of efficiency. Carrying more passengers further, and at lower cost, the A321 is the perfect solution to meet the requirements of airlines worldwide in the middle of the market segment.”
SriLankan Airlines to commence daily direct flights to Melbourne
SriLankan Airlines, the national carrier of Sri Lanka, will begin daily non-stop services to Melbourne from October 29.
Capt. Suren Ratwatte, chief executive of SriLankan Airlines, said: “Our presence in Australia cements the long-standing relationship between our two countries. We recently celebrated the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between our nations, and the addition of Melbourne signifies our strategy of optimizing the airline’s network in line with our restructuring. This also means that we have connected another continent to our global route map.”
He added: “Given the number of Sri Lankans residing in and around Victoria, we fulfil a long felt need for a direct service. We are proud to welcome all the diverse residents of Victoria who can now enjoy the direct connections when visiting their friends and families throughout our network.”
The airline will operate an A330-200 aircraft on the route.
Meanwhile, SriLankan Airlines has stated that its flights to Qatar are not affected by diplomatic tensions in the region, though the airline is closely monitoring the situation.