This morning, all operations by Zest Air have been suspended and the whole airline fleet has been grounded by CAAP due to alleged safety violations. Source :- ANC News.
No opinion on Zest...never used them..(but if they are unsafe - they can stay on the ground - I've done my share of inept airlines). I note Tiger Airways is doing domestic flights in the Philippines now...I have used them several times on international flights from Perth to south-east asia....and they are pretty good. Seats are cramped, but in my experience, slightly better than Cebu Pacific, and the service on the ground and in the air is far better. Not flying to Dumaguete yet, but likely only a matter of time...do fly from Bacolod and Iloilo etc to Manila....Still prefer PAL, the quality of PAL domestic and international has been great last few years, but Tiger is a very competitive airline....and if the fares and times are right....I'd take Tiger...
PAL does not fly domestic routes any more. That has been left to their low cost daughter company Airphil Express. Which in my experience is far worse than Cebu Pacific. I flew with Airphil Express on my last trip to Dumaguete and had the following experience: About 1-2 weeks before my trip, I was rebooked from afternoon to morning flight in both directions, presumably because the afternoon flights were cancelled. On the way to Dumaguete the plane then arrived 2 hours late. On the way back to Manila it was raining, and when I checked in, a note on the check-in window announced, that the flight was "delayed because of the weather". I asked how long the delay was and was told, that "10 o´clock we will see if can fly". When everybody had checked in and about ½ hour before the planned departure, the flight was then cancelled. At that time it was no longer raining, so obviously the problem was not the weather but something else. After spending 1 hour waiting in line to get back my check-in luggage, I then had to rush to the airport in Cebu by boat, bus and taxi and buy a completely new domestic ticket with Cebu Pacific, so I could get to Manila in time for my international flight leaving after midnight. Also their luggage policy is completely ridiculous. The standard fare include 10 kg of check-in luggage. And if you want to upgrade that to 20 kg, the cost is a whopping 1.200 peso in top of the appr. 2.000 peso standard fare or 40% ektra to bring an additional 10 kg of luggage. Cebu Pacific also charge extra for luggage, but its a much more reasonable amount. So all in all this is definitly my only time ever to fly Airphil Express. I have flow Cebu Pacific countless times, and I have never had an even remotely similar experience with them.
Not discounting your bad experience....but I have only had one good flight on Cebu Pacific...and that was because the young lady at Bacolod check-in saw me as 6'3" and probably not comfortable in their cattle car configuration...so she gave me an exit seat....I find PAL Express usually has an inch or two extra legroom...the difference between me stretching out in the aisle (CP) - and knees into the seat back in front of me (PAL). That said, it is the Philippines and the on-time performance is pretty ordinary...for all of them. Anyway, if you like CP keep at it....I prefer PAL...but good to see Tiger in on the action...have used them to Singapore a few times and beyond...and they've been very good. It's been almost a year, but certainly the last time we used PAL to Bacolod, it was 15kg's... All we need now is Air Asia doing domestic flights in the Philippines....we used them to Japan and back a couple months ago and they are a quantum leap above the low-cost airlines in the region...but still very low cost....That would really fix up the domestic quality and price strategies...
My last 6-8 flights with Cebu Pacific including the last one from Cebu to Manila all arrived dead on time or even a bit early, and if there were any delays, they were absolutly minor, say ½ hour or less. So I really don´t think its true, that Cebu Pacifics on-time performance is "pretty ordinary". That WAS the case 4-5 years ago, but they have gotten their act together and improved it dramatically. Admittedly 1 trip is not enough to evaluate the performance of an airline in a scientific way. But I just can not be impressed with an airline, that cancel 3 out of 4 flights and has the last one arriving 2 hours late. Thats just not good enough by any standards. Its true that legroom is not abundant on Cebu Pacific flights, but for 200 peso extra you can solve that completely by purchasing an exit row seat, when you buy the ticket online. About the luggage issue, when I purchased my ticket online 2½ month ago, I was authomatically redirected to the Airphil Express homepage. But I just tried it again, and today that is no longer the case. So apparently it is again possible to fly after PAL rules and regulations on the Manila-Dumaguete route. The flight itself is still operated by Airphil Express however. And yes I will stay with Cebu Pacific and advise every body else to do the same. Not because I like them, but bacause you simply can not trust Airphil Express to bring you, where you want to go. For an airline to even be worth considering, they must at least complete the wast majority of flights, which they sell tickets to. And currently Airphil Express just does not live up to this very fundamental requirement.
Update. It seems that Zest Air is now back in business and flying all the routes that it previously flew.
