Air Asia Philippines may soon launch a new service to Guam and Saipan.
According to the Manila Standard newspaper, the budget airline has sought permission from the Philippine Civil Aeronautics Board to fly to the United States.
Philippines Air Asia Inc., the Philippine unit of Air Asia, in a petition filed with the CAB, requested for a designation and allocation of entitlements under the Philippines-United States of America Air Transport Agreement.
Air Asia Philippines, in the same petition, asked the CAB to revoke the designation of Air Philippines as an official carrier to the U.S. mainland, the Manila Standard reported.
Camerlo Arcilla, executive director of CAB, was quoted by the Manila Standard as saying that Air Asia Philippines planned to fly to US territories such as Guam and Saipan, and not the U.S. mainland.
Air Asia Philippines is the Philippine affiliate of AirAsia, a low-cost airline based in Malaysia. The airline started as a joint venture among three Filipino investors and AirAsia Investments Ltd., a subsidiary of AirAsia Berhad.
Aside from Philippine domestic flights, the airline operates international flights to and from Shanghai, Taipei, Incheon (Seoul), Hong Kong, Macau, Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu, Guangzhou, Vietnam, Shenzhen, Kaohshing, Bali, Shenzhen, Indonesia, Singapore and soon Japan.
Air Asia Philippines’ plan to enter the Guam market comes as Cebu Pacific Air, another Philippine-based budget airline, announced that it will be suspending its service to and from Guam on December 7, 2019.
According to Cebu Pacific, the Guam route is no longer viable. There are two other carriers servicing the Guam to Manila route.
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