MANILA - Cebu Pacific, the country's largest airline, said Tuesday it would fly to Melbourne starting in August, banking on the rising number of Filipino tourists in Australia.

Seats will be available at a promo rate of P2,199 starting Tuesday until Saturday and will be valid for travel from Aug. 14 to Oct. 31, the airline said.

It will be Cebu Pacific's second route to Australia after it opened flights to Sydney in 2014.

Year-round fares will start at P9,539, with thrice weekly flights on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, the airline said.

"Melbourne is a great city to explore and increased flights will also bring more Australian tourists to the Philippines," Australian Ambassador to the Philippines Amanda Gorely was quoted as saying in the statement.

Roughly a quarter of a million Filipinos live in Australia and more than 10,000 students travel there every year, Gorely said.

Filipino tourist arrivals to Australia have increased steadily from 120,000 in 2014, when Cebu Pacific began flying to the continent, the airline said.