Another international airline has returned to Sydney, with Cebu Pacific resuming its popular flights between Sydney and Manila on July 1. Cebu Pacific had carved out a niche in Australia by offering a low-cost alternative to Qantas and Philippine Airlines before the pandemic but paused its flights in March 2020. Now the airline is back with thrice-weekly return flights.

Cebu Pacific returned to Sydney on the weekend

The return of Cebu Pacific is another step forward for Sydney Airport, which lost a lot of carriers at the pandemic's start. Most, but not all, have returned or planned to return and the airport is keen to get as many former airlines back as possible. In 2019, the most recent year of uninterrupted flying for airlines, 776 660 people flew on the Australia - Philippines country pair, with airlines offering 3,429 nonstop flights. Cebu Pacific competed with Qantas and Philippine Airlines on the country pair, with the low-cost carrier snagging 35% of the market in terms of passenger numbers.

Landing in Sydney on a wild and wet Saturday morning, Cebu Pacific was the last of the three carriers to resume flights between Australia and the Philippines.

"With this route resumption, we are pleased to fly once again to and from this destination after more than two years," said Cebu Pacific Chief Commercial Officer Xander Lao. "We know that many are excited to visit Sydney's attractions. This route also allows Filipinos to reunite with friends and family."

An inexpensive but squeezy flight option

It takes around eight and a half hours to cover the 3,879 miles (6,243 kilometers) between the two cities. The flights down to Sydney are overnight services, while flights up to Manila are civilized daytime journeys. At 23:20 every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, a Cebu Pacific Airbus A330-900 will operate flight 5J39 to Sydney (SYD), arriving at 09:50 the following day. Heading up to Manila (MNL), 5J40 will depart Sydney at 11:20 every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday and touch down in Manila at 17:50 on the same day.

While Cebu Pacific generally undercuts its competitors on this route, you'll be on the receiving end of an authentic medium-haul low-cost flying experience. Cebu Pacific fits 436 passengers on its A330-900s in a standard 3-3-3 layout across the entire plane. This is an impressive number of passengers, but there won't be much room to move during your eight-plus hours in the air. Baggage, seat selection, and meals are all add-ons.

Both countries open to travelers

Cebu Pacific's return to Australia coincides with that country dropping the last of its COVID-related travel restrictions. The longstanding policy of checking vaccination certificates and current status before boarding an Australia-bound flight ends this week. Australia is also axing its previously compulsory but deeply flawed digital passenger declaration app in favor of returning to the low-tech but infinitely preferable hard copy arrival declaration. It marks a return to pre-pandemic arrival processes in Australia.

Meanwhile, the Philippines is open to all fully vaccinated international tourists as they can present proof of complete COVID-19 vaccination and at least one booster shot. However, there do remain some domestic travel restrictions and guidelines imposed by the national and local governments to help control the spread of COVID-19 within the Philippines.