Zest Air to Melbourne - 2013

[Andrew P]

Philippine budget carrier Zest Airways will offer flights to Australia and Saudi Arabia next year as it awaits delivery of four (4) Airbus A330-300 from aircraft lessors by summer next year, documents from the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) showed.

The airline’s new chief marketing and sales officer Alfredo Herrera said they hoped to fly by July next year.

The carrier intends to fly to Melbourne five times a week, preempting Cebu Pacific flights by three months, and thrice weekly flight to Riyadh and Dammam in Saudi Arabia, and Manama, Bahrain.

Herrera said more direct international flights from Manila are scheduled this year as they introduce Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai, Seoul, Hong Kong and Singapore routes to their network.

Zest Airways currently operates a fleet 14 aircraft comprising four Xian MA-60 turboprops, nine Airbus A320 and one Airbus A319 for domestic and international flights, which include services to Incheon, South Korea; Jinjiang,Quanzhou and Shanghai, China; and Taipei, Taiwan from points in Kalibo and Cebu.

Zest Air started operations in 1996 as Asian Spirit and was renamed Zest Airways in September 2008. It is the fourth largest carrier in the Philippines.

seems 3 Philippine carriers Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific and Zest Air will serve Australia in 2013