Cebu Pacific (CEB) increases the capacity of its Manila-Singapore service by close to 20% with the upgrade of the current Airbus A319 service to an A320 beginning March 22, 2007.

The Manila-Singapore daily service started last August 31, 2006 and has since then averaged more than 80% in passenger loads. CEB's A319 aircraft has a capacity of 150 seats while the A320s have a seating capacity of 179.

CEB's Manila-Singapore service leaves Manila at 8:30pm, arriving in Singapore at 11:55pm and departs from Singapore at 12:40am the following day to arrive back in Manila at 4:05am. The lowest 'Go' fare for the Manila-Singapore service starts from P2,499 one-way.

"We are looking forward to upgrading this service to the A320 because we can see that this is a market that can be stimulated further with our low fare offering. The additional capacity will also mean that we will be able to provide more low fares to the public," said Candice A. Iyog, CEB marketing director.

Last December, CEB also announced the increase in frequency from 4 to 6 times weekly for its Cebu-Singapore Service starting January 25, 2007.

"We launched our daily services to Singapore less than 5 months ago and by the end of March, we will have more than doubled our capacity from Singapore to the Philippines by offering 13 round trip services a week from Manila and Cebu. We have been very encouraged by the performance of these routes so far," Iyog added.

"We hope that our efforts to expand our regional operations will encourage more tourists to visit the Philippines because there is so much that our country has to offer. We also want to encourage more Filipinos to fly because it has always been our vision to make flying an option for more Filipinos both locally and regionally." Iyog said.

Now in its 11th year, CEB operates 13 brand new Airbus aircraft with an average fleet age of less than a year, to its 20 domestic and a number of international destinations. The airline's re-fleeting program will be completed next month.