Philippine low-cost carrier (LCC) Cebu Pacific Air will open a new Middle East route from Manila to Doha, Qatar from early June. The new 2X-weekly 426-seat Airbus A330-300 service will take more than nine hours from Cebu’s Manila hub at Ninoy Aquino International. The airline said it wants to tap into the lucrative overseas Filipino workers (OFW) market, but will offer fares up to 50% lower than competitors, including Qatar Airways. http://atwonline.com/airports-routes/cebu-pacific-launch-long-haul-manila-doha-service-june
That will do me, fly to Doha from Manchester, then get a cheap flight from Doha to Manila with Cebu Pacific.
If it really is 50% then definitely a cheaper alternative to getting to Manila. Might be worth checking their website in the next few months
Here are the details from the new Cebu Pacific flight schedule (updated 15th April 2015) No pricing available yet, the flight can be selected from the Cebu Pacific booking page but leads to a page with no further details. UFN means "until further notice", I had to look that one up.
They might have the same initials and share a common second name but Cathay Pacific they are absolutely not!
They don't share the same prices as Cathay Pacific at the moment. One way Manila to Doha is now available for a 2,888 PHP promo fare for the 10 hour flight only. Fees and taxes take that up to minimum of PHP 3,679, that's £56. Or 3,908 PHP for the one way flight and 20 Kilos of check in baggage. Fees take that up to PHP 4,700 or £71. Not bad if you desperately need to get from Manila to Doha and don't mind a ****ty night flight arriving at 2:45 in the morning I suppose. (Midpoint currency exchange rates used)
A quick check on Skyscanner shows that it would almost certainly be cheaper to fly on currents routes if outbound is from the UK. But starting in Manila and you may save a bit of money. Once the Manila > Doha roiute is established by Cebu Pacific I expect the fares will rise too. What is really needed is for Cebu Pacific to fly to some European destination (preferably UK) where RyanAir or other cheap carrier flies from. Cebu Pacific ia allowed to fly to Europe.
That would be nice but it seems they are interested in the high capacity turnover that OFW's bring, so the middle east being a good earner for them makes sense. I too rather suspect that the prices at some point may well comparable or just slightly lower.
From Edinburgh we have Qatar airways flying to Doha then i can book Cebu Pacific to Manila. If full trip comes cheaper that is.
HaHa. Just checking the Qatar website for dates with a decent fare (Fly 10/May, return 17/May). EDI to MNL return = £513.45 (<< Economy Promo). EDI to DOH return = £729.65. So by flying all the way to MNL (via DOH) with Qatar, rather than stopping at Doha, you actually save £216.20. Not to mention the trouble, risk, and additional expense of connecting to Cebu Pacific Quite often it can be better value to fly with an airline through its main hub rather than to that main hub. Thought If you want to fly from EDI to DOH, and cash is really tight, You could fly with Qatar via DOH to MNL. Then fly back from MNL to DOH with Cebu Pacific. Assuming that you have 20KG baggage, and the £71 (MNL to DOH) fare is available both ways, you would actually save £71.20. Plus you would get more airmiles with Qatar. (Edit: Don't forget the 2% Quidco cashback for Qatar flights!)
Hi! I have found an EDI- DOH, via Dublin and Abudhabi, 10 to 17 may for aprox 407 pounds (not bad) The click here and you'll see the research: www.manilaflights.net Regards!
Looks good. i bought my ticket last month for May. for £420 which at that time was a good price. but i have saved the website. Thank you
