The largest airline in the Philippines will begin offering direct flights between Doha and Manila this summer, offering a new and affordable way for Qatar’s large Filipino population to travel home.
Starting June 4, low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific Air (Cebu) will fly a 436-seat, all-economy class Airbus A330 between the cities twice a week.
The flight departs Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport every Monday and Thursday, at 9:35pm. It arrives in Doha at 2:45am the next day. The return flight departs Doha every Tuesday and Friday, at 4:15am, arriving in Manila at 6:35pm.
According to the carrier, the route aims to serve over 260,000 Filipinos in Qatar, which is home to the third-largest Filipino community in the Middle East.
That number appears to be growing.
Last month, the Gulf Times reported that some 94,000 work visas has been secured by the Philippines to send overseas workers to Qatar, mostly to fill health and transportation-related jobs.
In a statement, Alex Reyes, general manager of Cebu’s long-haul division, said:
“We are excited to offer Cebu Pacific’s trademark low fares to travelers in Doha, especially since we are the only low-cost carrier operating this route. With our expanding network, Qatar becomes more accessible from the Philippines, and the Filipino community can reunite with their families more often.”
More choices
Currently, the only direct Doha-Manila route is operated by Qatar Airways, which appears to be more expensive than Cebu. For example, a fare search this morning showed that a roundtrip economy class flight to Manila from Doha on June 4, returning June 18, would cost QR3,890.
Under Cebu’s introductory fare promotion, which lasts until today (March 16), Manila-Doha prices start at QR88 each way, for travel between June 4 and Dec. 31, 2015.
Regular fares in the summertime appear to start roundtrip at QR1,801, with no checked luggage or meal, or QR2,087 if both of these options are selected.
Filipinos in Qatar are not the only ones seeing more affordable flight choices out of Doha.
Jet Airways announced this week that it has added two new flights from Doha to Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, India. The carrier will initially fly three days a week and then from June 1 begin flying daily to the two cities. It currently already flies to Mumbai and Kochi.
And passengers flying to Pakistan will also have more route options starting this summer, when Qatar Airways expands its reach from Doha to three cities there: Sialkot, Faisalabad and Multan.
The national carrier will begin flying to Sialkot four times a week on July 16; three times a week to Faisalabad starting July 17; and three times a week to Multan starting Aug. 1.
Qatar Airways already operates 45 flights a week across four cities in Pakistan – twice daily flights to Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, and three flights a week to Peshawar.
Thoughts?
dohanews steals ideas from one newspaper and gives the credit to some other newspaper. they have been doing this every day for months. and they put their names on press releases and agency stories. what a farce!
I hate Dohanews but at least they have a spine and are fearless when compared to toilet papers like gulf news and whatever the others are called
Thanks, I guess?!
You always delete my comments on DN for “trolling”… but I guess comments that half-praise DN are ok, even if they’re off topic. (P.S. plz don’t delete)
If A_qtr had written “I hate Dohanews” and left it at that, you would have deleted his comment. How does what he adds after that statement say anything constructive or make it relevant to the story? Please don’t use double-standards when moderating comments. Keep this a fair blog for people to express their minds. Journalists stand for freedom of speech, so don’t be hypocritical.
You can’t hate Dohanews. You are just jealous. You probably wanted to do a similar project but couldn’t, hence the jealousy 🙂 😛
Jealous of the money they’re making yesss
how much does dohanews make?
yeallah ya batal! Put on a different project and we will all follow you!
I don’t think they are making much. Just enough to have a decent life, rent a small apartment and drive a small car. I’d say somewhere between 10 and 15 every month for the highest paid employee.
except that they are not the sole bread winners. It’s their income added to their spouses. So in the end, it’s a lot.
Certainly right there. Disgusting headline in the gulf times today regarding Bellend Blatter. Leaves out part of the story and contradicts every other media out let worldwide.
Their sycophancy is revolting.
hummm, I guess gulf news should be called only Gulf…no news
gulf news is a dubai based papaer. why are we comparing it to doha news?
Gulf daily or gulf today or gulf something is a Qatar daily paper
The airline made the announcement. So we gave the airline credit. Not sure I understand what a newspaper has to do with this.
Perhaps you need an explanation about how companies interact with the media.
Company issues press release:
https://www.cebupacificair.com/about-us/pages/news.aspx?id=1008
Press reports company statement, in many cases verbatim:
http://www.gulf-times.com/qatar/178/details/430960/philippines%E2%80%99-airline-to-launch-doha-manila-flights
http://www.asiatraveltips.com/news15/163-CebuPacific.shtml
http://www.aviationtribune.com/airlines/asia/item/2110-cebu-pacific-announces-new-flights-to-doha
http://www.traveldailynews.asia/news/article/58192/cebu-pacific-announces-new-flights
http://www.eturbonews.com/56530/cebu-pacific-launches-doha-manila-service
No one is stealing anything. The company WANTS the press to cover the story. The press WANTS to provide readers with information.
Great news for the hard working philipino community in doha
Not really. Cebu Pacific is a baaaddd airline company.
a stopover at kochi is econimically viable for the airplane service provider
Didnt know when did Philippines become part of India…..or the other way round ……LOL
you are right nisun96..your knowledge of history is commendable..parts of the present Philippines had been once part of the great Madjapahit empire of India.. 🙂
Manila the world’s worst airport. I don’t understand why Filipinos put up with the bad treatment from their government, airport officials or the POEA.
This new direct flight won’t help the Filipinos who have to fly via Singapore or Hong Kong to escape the corruption needed to just leave your own country
agree!! well said!
I find it amazing their are only three countries you need ‘permission’ to leave. N Korea, Cuba and the Philippines. Is that a club the Philippines wants to belong?
What about Qatar?
Citizens don’t need permission to leave
Females do until they reach their mid 20s. About 15 years ago, permission was needed regardless of age. First, permission was needed for each trip ( a written form stamped by the govt or the physical appearance of your male guardian as you go through immigration) then came an option to have permission granted valid for a year of multiple exits.
Not sure if there are any permissions for males (if so it would be for the under 18 group).
That’s pretty sad. Kept prisoner by your government
In theory yes, in reality though, in the culture here the majority if not all people wouldnt travel without their families’ consent or knowledge or wouldn’t travel without their family members. Even now if permissions are not required due to your age, you still wouldn’t just up and leave without family knowledge (which would be difficult since you live with your family).
It’s a standard exit permit…
and Indonesia being an Indonesian woman
thanks Cebu Pacific..but still i’ll go Emirates…:-)
Another potential bad news for Filipinos. With so many cheapskate companies looking for savings, expect some of them to book, giving less amenities than what is given by other Airlines (40 to 20k Baggage). Hopefully, I will be wrong…
But at least its cheaper for other nationals to visit the Philippines. Maybe its time to try the Balut, the native delicacy Filipinos are famous for.
Of course there will be less amenities, but it’s almost two thousand riyals less so that’s got to be worth something.
Most “economy airlines” include almost nothing, you pay for the luggage, the food/drinks, and everything else separately.
If this other guys and visitors taste the balut then they might keep on coming back for more and then this airline might need to have daily flights instead of just two a week. Making visa on arrival facility available to nationals of more countries would certainly get them a lot more genuine tourists rather then the old and retired American pensioners they get at present who mostly come looking for just some particular things
Just got a flight for 2nd Eid for 360QR all in…gotta be worth a visit for that price? Cheers DN !
Wow that’s more than 90% off on a QR ticket…..do you have to bring your own plane!!
Would luv feedback on this airline – would certainly Luv to visit the islands of the Philippines
Cebu Pacific has not resolved the issue of flight cancellation and long hours of delayed flight in the Philippines, now they wanted to show the world their “great service”? oh btw, based on my experience, if your flight is cancelled or delayed for more than 8 hours, you are on your own, do not expect any board and lodging. That’s why it is soooooo cheap. Not recommended if you are flying with infants or kids.
Great news specially to all Filipinos in Qatar. Though I have flew myself with Cebu Pacific within Philippines, sure good value for money but please expect that the flights are mostly delay. With all respect, seats are uncomfortable for a traveler with 5’11 to 6 foot height as their seat is tiny and tight. Anyway, this is a low cost airline what do you expect?! 70% off compare to QA!!!
It will be good news too for the employers. Filipino expats rarely buy their own airfare.It is the responsibility of the employers/companies to provide the plane ticket. On some case due to resignation, etc., it will be Filipino responsibility to produce his/her own plane ticket. Given a chance I would still fly with QR and EK
It may be cheap. but expect some delays too. Cebu Pacific was slapped more than $1m+ due to delayed/cancelled flight last December 2014 that left thousand of travelers stranded in the airport without any assistance from Cebu Pacific. Delays are normal for Cebu Pacific. I beg to disagree too that Cebu Pacific is the largest Airline in the Philippines.