MANILA — Low cost carrier Cebu Pacific is expanding its Clark hub following the government's mandate to transfer turboprop flights out of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

The airline recently announced the airline will transfer all its Masbate and Siargao flights from Manila to Clark International Airport starting March 30, 2025. It also just announced it will start new flights from Clark to El Nido and Coron, both in Palawan

Cebu Pacific President Xander Lao said it will eventually transfer all its turboprop flights out of NAIA in the coming months. While some turboprop flights will be upgraded to a bigger aircraft.

“The other turboprop operations na-upgrade namin to a jet. For example Manila to San Jose, magiging jet na siya by March,” said Lao.

This is also the outcome eyed by the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA). According to MIAA Head Executive Assistant Jeff David, NAIA only has 42 landing and takeoff slots per hour, so changing a turboprop aircraft to the bigger jet plane can benefit more passengers.

“Malaki talaga difference. An A320 [Airbus jet] would accomodate around 300 passengers, a turboprop aircraft would have 60,” David said.

He added, “It's an airport that can no longer expand its facilities… This is one way for us to increase capacity without having to add infrastructure.”

Cebu Pacific said it has contacted 19,000 affected passenger with the move to Clark. Refund and free rebooking are available to the passengers who already bought tickets to affected flights.

“Go to the website. You can check your flight status and it will also indicate the terminal… We also, as a matter of practice, send flight reminders,” said Cebu Pacific Chief Marketing and Customer Experience Chief Candice Iyog.

The airline meanwhile is seeing double digit growth in terms of passenger count this year. Aside from expanding Clark and NAIA, it is also seeing growth in provincial airports. The airline is also set to add new routes this year.

“We expect to grow our passenger number by roughly in the mid 20%… This year, we're taking in 7 aircraft. That should help drive some of the growth,” Lao said.