Passengers were treated to a festive Chinese send-off when Airphil Express made its first flight to exciting and progressive Hong Kong from Cebu’s Mactan Terminal recently.
Hong Kong is home to a significant number of OFWs and remains an important neighboring international destination in terms of business and tourism, while Cebu is one the Philippine’s most crucial trade and leisure hubs. Connecting the two centers via Airphil Express represents another advance for the fastest growing budget airline and is seen to help drive growth in the Southern Philippine region.
To give an auspicious and rousing launch and to wish for the success of the new route, a lively and colorful lion dance performance was held at the boarding area. Passengers had a blast when the custom-made Chinese lantern, containing corporate and travel freebies was given a tug by Peter Y. Ong, President and CEO and Brian Hogan, Airphil Express Chief Executive Adviser, as it triggered a shower of prizes to lucky travelers: 2-roundtrip domestic tickets, 4GB USB, mouse pads, and slippers. Around 125 customers were on board the Airbus A320 that serviced the new route.
“We were quite enthusiastic about our first flight to Hong Kong,” shares Alfredo Herrera, Senior Vice-President for Marketing and Sales. “It is one of our kababayans’ favorite Asian places to visit, and with the entry of Airphil Express, it is now a top value destination. With the launch of the maiden flight of Airphil Express from Cebu, we hope our loyal, as well as new passengers, experienced a cultural celebration that gave them a good taste and glimpse of Hong Kong.”
Hong Kong is Airphil Express’ second international destination. The route is part of a substantially funded capacity-expansion program that includes adding another new Airbus A320 to the airline’s current fleet to service a robust Philippine travel market venturing more frequently to destinations in and outside the country.
With the opening of the Hong Kong route from Cebu, Airphil Express is expected to post the highest growth rates among Philippine budget airlines, continuing from its highly successful inaugural year as a rebranded carrier in 2010. Airphil Express is known to offer services and products that are valued by frequent flyers: good airfare deals for its domestic and international routes, and comfort-driven services like Web Check-In, Seat Selector, Travel Insurance, and Pre-Paid Baggage, as well as travel bonuses of as much as 15 kilos free baggage allowance and an additional 7-kilo free hand carry.
To know more about the latest travel promotions and services of Airphil Express, simply visit www.airphilexpress.com, follow us on www.twitter.com/airphilexpress or Like Us on facebook.com/airphilexpressph.
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ReplyDeleteWith your rapid growth comes responsibility and accountability. I booked RT tickets for this destination for my family of four only to be informed days ago of a cancellation with options presented to me as flying a day earlier or a day later or a refund as our last and only option.
ReplyDeleteWhat makes this experience totally memorable is not because it's my daughter's first trip out of the country because we still have no idea if everything will be arranged as we are days away from our trip, but it is the stress and the burden that Airphil Express has bestowed upon us. The repercussions are great because we will be wasting our booked domestic flights, hotel, and other arrangements that we made for this trip.
I also had to deal with 8 people from your contact centers who put me in circles and who deliberately lied to me for reasons that I cannot understand. For the sleepless nights that I had, and for the longs distance calls that I made and will be making to get this resolved, I don't know if this is worth it and I also don't know if this will get me anywhere.
If the company cares at all for the paying clientele who helped you stay on air for the past couple of years, I hope this company embodies the service it claims to offer its clients. I have experienced the worst. Thank you for ruining our first family trip outside the country. I just hope my experience will be a learning experience for many people who are traveling soon.