Strong competition sees Cebu Pacific cut back on Middle Eastern flights

The Filipino low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific has announced the suspension of over 50 percent of its Middle Eastern Operations, citing an oversupply of seats driving prices down to an unsustainable level. Flights from Manila to Riyadh, Doha and Kuwait will all be affected. The carrier will maintain its other long-haul services to and from Dubai, United Arab Emirates; and Sydney, Australia, and will likely increase flight numbers. Cebu Pacific also flies to 24 other international destinations throughout Asia and the U.S.; together with 37 domestic destinations.
In a statement from Paterno S. Mantaring, a vice president at Cebu Pacific, “We have to continuously review our routes to ensure their viability. At this point, it makes more sense for us to redeploy the aircraft used for our Riyadh, Doha and Kuwait service to routes where we can further stimulate demand and sustain our low-fare offers.”
In the meantime, flag-carrying Philippine Airlines (PAL) will continue its Manila to Dubai, Riyadh, Doha, Kuwait, Jeddah, Abu Dhabi and Dammam nonstop flights, having announced in March that it will commence nonstop services to and from Manila to all seven of these Middle East destinations.