The Philippines’ leading airline, Cebu Pacific, will start evening flights to and from Caticlan, the gateway to Boracay Island, in July.

Cebu is the first carrier to mount night flights and utilise the upgraded air traffic control system and newly-installed night navigational equipment at the Godofredo Ramos Airport.

The carrier will be mounting two additional round-trip flights daily between Manila and Caticlan, and will be utilising the ATR aircraft through wholly owned subsidiary Cebgo.

In total, Cebu Pacific has 39 flights weekly between Manila and Caticlan; 14 between Cebu and Caticlan; and seven between Clark and Caticlan.

The additional night frequencies will add 12 more flights to Caticlan to bring the total Cebu frequency to 72.

Currently, the last flight between Manila to Caticlan leaves at 15:30 with the return flight at 17:10.

With the new night operations, the last flight will be leaving Manila at 18:55 and will be returning from Caticlan at 20:45.

The mounting of night flight at the Caticlan Airport was given the go-signal following technical reviews and consultations on its night operation capability with the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines.

“We thank CAAP for continually leading the scale-up of our airports to night-flying capability.

“We believe that expansion of operating times will not only boost frequencies to key domestic routes, but it will also give travellers more options, greater flexibility on when they fly and also help decongest air traffic, especially during the peak flying hours at noon and early afternoon,” said Atty Mantaring, vice president for corporate affairs, Cebu Pacific.