Cebu Pacific Air resumes daily flights between Dubai and Manila

Largest airline of the Philippines will also operate two commercial repatriation flights to help Filipinos in the UAE fly home

Cebu Pacific will resume daily flights from Manila to Dubai from September 30 and operate two additional Bayanihan repatriation flights next week. Photo: Flickr

Cebu Pacific Air is resuming daily flights between Dubai and the Philippines.

The country's largest airline will fly seven times a week between the UAE and Manila, with daily services from Manila commencing from September 30.

Flights are operated via the airline's A330 wide-body jets and one-way fares start from Dh1,600. All travellers booking on these flights must follow the airline's enhanced Covid-19 safety measures, which includes wearing face shields and masks throughout the journey.

Passengers flying Cebu Pacific must also check-in online to help maintain contactless flight procedures. Other rules are in place for travellers flying into Manila and more information is available via this Philippines travel guide.

Two more 'Bayanihan' flights

The airline also announced two special commercial flights to operate from Dubai to Manila next week, in an effort to help Filipinos in the Middle East return home.

These 'Bayanihan' flights (which loosely translates to people helping people) are only for citizens overseas who wish to return to their home country. They will depart from Dubai International Airport on the coming Monday and Wednesday.

“Following the lifting of entry restrictions for Philippine-inbound flights from several countries including the UAE, we are glad to be able to bring home more Filipinos who want to fly home and be reunited with their loved ones through Bayanihan flights,” said Candice Iyog, vice president for marketing and customer experience at Cebu Pacific.

In addition to restarting regular commercial services between Dubai and Manila, Cebu Pacific has plans to rebuild its international network.

The airline will resume flights from the Philippines to Kuala Lumpur on October 4, and to Japan's Fukuoka on November 5. Other destinations in Japan set to be reinstated are Nagoya, with flights resuming on October 2, and Osaka, where services will be in operation from October 4.

Domestically, Cebu Pacific will also increase flights to popular tourism destinations across the country including five flights a week to Siargao and five daily flights to Boracay.

“We believe reopening domestic travel and the promotion of responsible travel is critical to rebuilding the trust and travel confidence in the industry,” said Iyog.