Cebu Pacific

Foundation and growth

The airline was established on August 26, 1988. Republic Act No. 7151, which grants a legislative franchise to Cebu Air, Inc. to operate was approved on August 30, 1991. It started operations on March 8, 1996, with its first flight from Manila to Cebu. Domestic services commenced following market deregulation by the Philippine government. The airline was subsequently acquired by JG Summit Holdings, which was at the time, owned by John Gokongwei. It temporarily ceased operations in February 1998 after being grounded by the government due to an accident that killed 104 people but resumed services later the next month following re-certification of its aircraft. It initially started with 24 domestic flights daily among Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, and Metro Davao. By the end of 2001, its operations had grown to about 80 daily flights to 18 domestic destinations.

In the 2000s, Cebu Pacific was granted rights to operate international flights to the region, including Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Guam. International flights were launched on November 22, 2001, with a twice-daily service to Hong Kong. On March 1, 2002, it commenced thrice-weekly flights to Seoul. Other regional flights were introduced and suspended later; however, including flights to Singapore and from Manila via Subic to Seoul due in part to the effects of the SARS epidemic.The airline resumed its Manila–Singapore flights on August 31, 2006 and launched its direct flight from Cebu to Singapore on October 23, 2006, the first low-cost airline to serve the Cebu-Singapore-Cebu sector, and in direct competition with Singapore Airlines' subsidiary SilkAir, CEB was the only Philippine carrier serving the Cebu-Singapore-Cebu route for years until Philippine Airlines resumed its direct service in 2017. The airline operates direct flights from Cebu to Hong Kong which commenced October 2, 2006, which also made CEB the only Philippine carrier to serve a Cebu-Hong Kong-Cebu route after PAL terminated its direct service and is now code-sharing with Cathay Pacific for this route.Cebu Pacific's plans to begin international flights from Clark were initially unsuccessful when its request was denied. The nations involved came to an agreement that Cebu Pacific would be only allowed to operate charter flights from Clark to the respective countries' airport. Only Singapore initially agreed to allow Cebu Pacific to fly scheduled flights from Clark to Singapore. It later expanded its international routes from Clark to Cebu, Davao, Hong Kong, Macau, and Tokyo.

Expansion and re-branding

On November 12, 2007, Cebu Pacific announced Davao's Francisco Bangoy International Airport as its fourth hub. Cebu Pacific announced that it would initially fly internationally from Davao City to Singapore, Hong Kong and fly one domestic flight to Iloilo. Both direct services from Davao to Singapore and Iloilo commenced on May 8, 2008, while the service to Hong Kong commenced on May 9. In late 2007, Cebu Pacific announced plans to launch non-stop flights to the United States West Coast, Houston, Texas and Chicago, Illinois by mid-2009.In August 2009, Cebu Pacific became the first airline in the Philippines to use social media. The airline created a fan page on Facebook and Twitter.In October 2010, the airline completed an initial public offering of 30.4% of outstanding shares. It raised ?23.3 billion prior to an exercise of an overallotment option and was the largest IPO made by a low-cost carrier.In 2012, Cebu Pacific planned to commence international long-haul flights to the Middle East, the United States, Australia, and some parts of Europe using the Airbus A330-300. The first long-haul flight commenced to Dubai, United Arab Emirates on October 7, 2013. Cebu Pacific is also applying for rights for a daily service to Auckland, New Zealand.In June 2015, Cebu Pacific revealed its new logo that represents the colors of the Philippines and also symbolizes as an evolution of a low-cost pioneer. The airline received its first Airbus A320 painted in the new livery on January 22, 2016.New hubs were also launched in the 2010s. In November 2012, Iloilo International Airport was designated as the airline's fifth hub and launched direct international flights to Hong Kong and Singapore in that month. The airline launched Cagayan de Oro's Laguindingan Airport as its seventh hub in October 2017 and launched direct flights to Dumaguete and Caticlan from Cagayan de Oro.The airline through its subsidiary Cebgo launched flights to Basco, Batanes from March 27 to October 27, 2018. On August 14 of the same year, the airline commenced thrice-weekly flights to Melbourne, Australia.

COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the operations of the airline and its regional subsidiary. During the enhanced community quarantine in Luzon from March to May 2020, several flights were cancelled. Due to low passenger demand, the airline laid off 1,300 employees in 2020, and sent many aircraft to indefinite storage. As travel demand recovers, it started rehiring retrenched employees in November 2021 and aims to restore its full workforce by 2023. By July 2022, the airline operated at 88% of pre-pandemic levels, with domestic operations being restored to 100% of pre-pandemic levels.