As the title says, Cebu Pacific will ends its services to Doha(02JUL17), Kuwait (15JUN17) and Riyadh (04JUL17).

Source: https://twitter.com/Airlineroute

PR operates to all of these destinations along with the plethora of Gulf carriers flying to MNL.

I wonder if all of it squeezed them out of the market.

the super uncomfortable A330 config 5J uses probably made passengers avoid using them. plus ofws can afford to fly better than most filipinos.

frobozzelectric wrote:

the super uncomfortable A330 config 5J uses probably made passengers avoid using them..

Probably not the very price-sensitive Filipinos it targets.

Press release: http://gulfbusiness.com/cebu-pacific-su ... dh-kuwait/

what did they expect when selling $200 round trip tickets all taxes inclusive for a year KWI-MNL-KWI !

behramjee wrote:

Press release: http://gulfbusiness.com/cebu-pacific-su ... dh-kuwait/

what did they expect when selling $200 round trip tickets all taxes inclusive for a year KWI-MNL-KWI !

They seem to be quite upfront about it, which is decent. Proof again that if RASM cannot even cover what would be very, very low CASM...

true. also probably fewer filipinos choosing to work in ME as salaries have not kept up.

Saudi Arabia is trying to wind down foreign workers, on top of the oil down turn--could be a factor?

frobozzelectric wrote:

the super uncomfortable A330 config 5J uses probably made passengers avoid using them. plus ofws can afford to fly better than most filipinos.

Expats in these countries usually have an annual, or bi-annual, return ticket to home included in their employment contract. It's the employer who's obliged to foot the bill for these flights, and I can assure you that 'comfort' is the least of their worries. In fact there is only one parameter: Price.

What are they going to do with the A330? Use it to up-gauge regional services to get around slot restrictions at NAIA?

If they can get a good interline agreement with Blue Air or Wizz Air for connecting to UK, Spain and Italy, I'd love to see 5J flying MNL-OTP.

the A330 will be used to TPE, SEL, BKK and MEL at the same time General Santos in the domestic front.

covert wrote:

What are they going to do with the A330? Use it to up-gauge regional services to get around slot restrictions at NAIA?

Just guessing-but maybe China?

B777LRF wrote:

frobozzelectric wrote:

the super uncomfortable A330 config 5J uses probably made passengers avoid using them. plus ofws can afford to fly better than most filipinos.

Expats in these countries usually have an annual, or bi-annual, return ticket to home included in their employment contract. It's the employer who's obliged to foot the bill for these flights, and I can assure you that 'comfort' is the least of their worries. In fact there is only one parameter: Price.

And those are the good contracts. By the time the average OFW has paid for the broken-down carabao,sick trike,new karaoke system etc, most OFWs return home as broke as they left.

B777LRF wrote:

Expats in these countries usually have an annual, or bi-annual, return ticket to home included in their employment contract. It's the employer who's obliged to foot the bill for these flights, and I can assure you that 'comfort' is the least of their worries. In fact there is only one parameter: Price.

If that indeed was the case, then 5J had an even chance of succeeding. But what if consolidators were shepherding these passengers over to the ME3 who then fly them below cost to fill up their rear cabins and just make up the difference through their premium offerings? 5J has to pay for everything out from their operations' earnings and needs to still show a profit.

covert wrote:

What are they going to do with the A330?

Perhaps 5J would use their latest two A330s to finally launch HNL services?

albertocsc wrote:

If they can get a good interline agreement with Blue Air or Wizz Air for connecting to UK, Spain and Italy, I'd love to see 5J flying MNL-OTP.

Its highly unlikely that they will fly to OTP,its a very limited market. Plus I dont think any of the airlines that you have listed fly to DOH, KWI or RUH.

^ I meant it would be interesting to have something like MNL-LTN, MNL-LPL, MNL-BHX, MNL-GLA, MNL-MAD, MNL-BCN, MNL-FCO, with just an stop in OTP, where the first leg would be operated by Cebu and the second by Blue (or Wizz).
That would be similar to what TK already does, but in a much more low-cost way.

I didn't say anything about DOH, KWI or RUH, but they also could be reached by flying 5J MNL-DXB and then from Dubai taking another flight to these destinations. Or flying directly with PAL.

Devilfish wrote:

B777LRF wrote:

Expats in these countries usually have an annual, or bi-annual, return ticket to home included in their employment contract. It's the employer who's obliged to foot the bill for these flights, and I can assure you that 'comfort' is the least of their worries. In fact there is only one parameter: Price.

If that indeed was the case, then 5J had an even chance of succeeding. But what if consolidators were shepherding these passengers over to the ME3 who then fly them below cost to fill up their rear cabins and just make up the difference through their premium offerings? 5J has to pay for everything out from their operations' earnings and needs to still show a profit.

It is indeed the case. Agencies fly OFWs on whatever is cheapest. It is not only ME3 who get the business. Some years ago,flying from MNL to LHR on China Southern, I had to overnight in CAN with a number of Filipinas. All but one flying to AMS, like me, but the one was flying to somewhere in the Gulf.Possibly I mis-overheard the conversations, but I believe the one was travelling with approx. US$ 5 in her purse, and the others had a whip-round to help her.

I also met a fellow Brit in Manila who worked on the offshore oilrigs in Angola. I imagine he was a skilled worker as his employer flew him back to the UK every 3 months on leave. He had decided to visit the Philippines, and his employer flew him on a one-change via the Gulf. He said the Filipinos,who were the grunt labourers,got flown home at the end of their 6 or 12 month contract. According to him, their routing included a transfer in Jo'burg as well as the Gulf, with long layovers in both.

Admittedly, these examples are anecdotal, but they indicate how price-driven is the agency OFW market.

albertocsc wrote:

^ I meant it would be interesting to have something like MNL-LTN, MNL-LPL, MNL-BHX, MNL-GLA, MNL-MAD, MNL-BCN, MNL-FCO, with just an stop in OTP, where the first leg would be operated by Cebu and the second by Blue (or Wizz).
That would be similar to what TK already does, but in a much more low-cost way.

There is no way 5J's 436 seat A330s can fly MNL-OTP nonstop without significant seat blocking. That is pushing the plane up to its limit even for a normally configured A333 (MNL-OTP is only 10 miles shorter than ATL-IST, currently the longest A333 flight).

Just to let you all know in 2016, the P2P demand between MNL and the main GCC cities were as follows:

RUH - 440,000
JED - 285,000
DMM - 275,000
KWI - 220,000
DXB - 530,000
BAH - 70,000
DOH - 225,000
MCT - 65,000
AUH - 250,000

5J's core issue for failure was its pricing strategy for which I dont understand how their Executive Management allowed to go on for such a long period of time. I hope they learn from this reckless mistake and dont damage their current Dubai flights moving forward.