Low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific is inching closer to its dream of flying to the United States after the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines granted the budget airline certification for Extended Diversion Time Operations.
The EDTO certification was originally introduced by the International Civil Aviation Organization to govern carriers that operate twin-engined aircraft on routes exceeding sixty minutes of flying time from the nearest airport. Cebu Pacific has been granted diversion privileges of up to 120 minutes. This means that Cebu Pacific’s flight routes between airports must never lead an aircraft more than 120 minutes away from the nearest diversion airport.
Cebu Pacific was under the scrutiny of the Civil Aviation Authority, which reviewed and evaluated a number of areas to ensure that the carrier was compliant prior to issuing the certification. The aviation regulator reviewed all of the routine and special engineering and flight crew procedures before staff were trained and qualified for EDTO.
According to Cebu Pacific, the new certification paves the way for the carrier to open new long-haul routes. “This allows us to serve new long haul markets with a more direct route between airports,” said Alex Reyes. “This means considerable fuel savings, and the most optimal flight times for our passengers.”
Since the lifting of Category 2 status imposed by the United States Federal Aviation Administration, Cebu Pacific has been targeting US destinations including Guam and Honolulu. According to Reyes, Cebu Pacific is planning to launch flights to the United States by the end of this year.
Flights to Guam will be operated by the carrier’s fleet of A320 aircraft, while Honolulu-bound flights will be operated by the larger A330 wide-body aircraft. Cebu Pacific recently accepted delivery of its sixth Airbus A330-300 aircraft last month.
Although Filipinos on the US mainland are eagerly anticipating the arrival of Cebu Pacific, they will likely need to be patient as the carrier has no plans of serving the mainland in the immediate future until a new type of aircraft can be acquired to adequately serve the needs of the market.