The Differences Between Philippine Budget Airlines

Now a day’s planning for a trip either domestically or abroad has become a very simple task for everyone to do. In addition to effortless planning and booking, either through the different Philippine travel agencies or through the many websites that offer travel packages, traveling has also become more affordable. Cheap accommodations in almost any destination as well as economical airfares have made it possible for many Filipinos to go on their desired adventures with their family and friends more frequently even when on a very tight budget. 

Before booking for hotels and planning the daily itineraries in one’s dream destination, transportation, may it be through land, sea or air is always the first thing to consider.  In the past few years, many local airlines have provided budget airfares for Filipinos. Online seat sales are available nearly every month in different budget airlines, that booking through the different Philippine travel agencies might not even be practiced anymore in the near future due to effortless online-ticket booking.  Cebu Pacific Air, Air Phil Express and Zest Air are a few of the popular budget airlines who are known for their regular seat-sales.

Cebu Pacific Air is probably the pioneer when it comes to budget flights in the Philippines promising to give “low fare, great value” to every Filipino with a popular tagline “It’s Time Everyone flies”. Cebu Pacific started out with offering just domestic flights but in 2001 the airline started to fly internationally. Cebu Pacific currently has a fleet size of 41 airplanes that flies to more than 52 destinations both locally and abroad. A few of their international destinations include Bangkok, Busan, Guangzhou, Ho Chi Minh, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur, Macau, Osaka, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore and Taipei. Cebu Pacific regularly has “piso-fare” promos which further marks down their already cheap flights to begin with. Cebu Pacific is also known for being the only domestic carrier that offers fun games during the flight.

Air Phil Express, another budget airline in the Philippines is a subsidiary of the oldest airline in the country, Philippine Airlines. Given this, Air Phil Express was first known as PAL Express before it was rebranded to its current name. Presently, Air Phil Express operates a fleet of 22 aircrafts traveling to 33 local and 3 international destinations namely; Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore. Besides, already having budget fares Air Phil Express also offers other promos for its customers such as a 20% student discount through selected ticket offices and other express sales.

Another well-known airline in the Philippines is Zest Air which was previously known as Asian Spirit. Zest Air claims to be “Asia’s Most Refreshing Airline”.  Zest Air’s really cheap year-round fares to 14 local destinations as well as to 4 international locations (Korea-Incheon, Shanghai, Jinjiang and Kuala Lumpur) are indeed refreshing to any traveler on a tight budget.

At present, Zest Air currently has a fleet size of 15 airplanes.