The Philippines’ leading carrier, Cebu Pacific (PSE: CEB), remains in the frontline of the country’s battle to curb the surge of COVID-19 cases with timely deliveries of vaccines to key cities across the archipelago.
CEB flew more than 236,000 doses to five cities in the Philippines, specifically to Tuguegarao and Legazpi on April 30, and to Tacloban, Zamboanga, and Cotabato on May 1, 2021.
This shipment comprised 41,600 doses for Tuguegarao, 67,200 doses for Legazpi, 73,600 for Tacloban, 25,600 for Zamboanga, and 28,800 for Cotabato.
"We are delighted to continue collaborating with our public and private partners for the realization of this national endeavor. We consider it our duty to bring these much-needed vaccines across our wide domestic network while ensuring they are preserved well and delivered safely while in our care," said Alex Reyes, President and CEO of Cebgo.
Upon receipt of the vaccines at the Cebu Pacific Cargo warehouse in Pasay, these were placed in a reefer container equipped with cooling systems for proper storage before cargo loading.
These vaccines were immediately transferred to container vans upon arrival at the destinations, ready for local distribution.
On April 29, CEB flew half a million vaccine doses from Beijing to Manila, in coordination with the Department of Health (DOH).
CEB has delivered the single largest vaccine shipment to the country so far, in coordination with the Department of Health (DOH).
A total of 1.5 million doses from Beijing arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) via 5J 671 on May 7, 2021.
“This large shipment of COVID vaccines with Cebu Pacific brings us closer to our goal of protecting every Filipino as fast as possible,” said Sec. Carlito Galvez, Jr., chief implementer of the National Task Force against COVID-19. “We are grateful to Cebu Pacific for joining forces with the government to support us in ensuring the success of this vaccine roll-out.”
“We are thankful for the continued trust of the Philippine government and the DOH, and restate our intention to support our country’s fight against COVID-19 in any way we can. We look forward to picking up more vaccines from across the globe and aid in distributing across our widest domestic network,” noted Alexander Lao, Cebu Pacific Chief Strategy Officer.
Upon unloading from CEB’s A330 aircraft, all vaccines were thoroughly inspected by the authorities prior to uplifting to refrigerated trucks via electric forklifts.
On May 4, Cebu Pacific transported 6,200 COVID-19 vaccines from Manila to Puerto Princesa. Apart from Palawan, the carrier has delivered more than half a million doses of vaccines to six (6) other cities in the country namely Bacolod, Cotabato, Legazpi, Tacloban, Tuguegarao, and Zamboanga.
Following last week’s shipment of 500,000 Sinovac vaccines from Beijing to Manila, CEB has already transported over 2.5 million COVID-19 doses since March 2021.
CEB fully supports the nation’s vaccination program by helping ensure life-saving COVID-19 vaccines are flown safely to the Philippines, and distributed across the rest of the archipelago.
CEB operates the widest domestic network in the Philippines covering 32 destinations, on top of its six (6) international destinations. Its 74-strong fleet, one of the youngest in the world, includes two (2) dedicated ATR freighters and one (1) A330 freighter.
