Cebu Pacific, Asia's first low-cost carrier and the Philippines' leading airline, operated its first commercial flight from Manila, the Philippines' capital, to Cebu, its hometown, in March 1996. In 2001, the airline launched its first international service to Hong Kong and, on September 9, 2014, operated its first service between Manila and Australia's main international gateway, Sydney. Ten years in Sydney Monday, September 9, marks ten years since Cebu Pacific Air (Cebu) started providing nonstop services to Sydney.
Currently, the low-cost carrier operates five weekly flights between Manila and Sydney and three weekly flights to Melbourne Airport (MEL), with all services utilizing the Airbus A330-900 new-generation widebody. On Friday, Sydney Airport announced that Cebu is increasing service frequency to a daily flight from December 1, 2024. The route is one of Cebu's most popular international services, and the two additional widebody flights, each carrying up to 459 passengers, will greatly increase seat capacity on the nonstop flight.
Cebu Pacific is adding a fourth weekly A330neo flight to Melbourne from Manilla starting in December. When the daily service commences in December, Sydney Airport will have the greatest capacity to the Philippines of any Australian airport with 3,213 weekly seats. Sydney Airport CEO Scott Charlton said the airport is proud to be the only airport in Australia offering a daily service to Manila, providing passengers with unprecedented choice.