In February 2024, my mother went to a travel expo in Pasay, Metro Manila, and ended up going to an AirAsia kiosk, where she booked our flights to Cebu — a famous destination in Central Visayas.
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AirAsia is a Malaysian multinational low-cost airline with subsidiaries in Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Cambodia. Founded in 1993 and commencing operations in 1996, it was purchased by It has been hailed by Skytrax as the world's best low-cost airline for more than a decade running since 2009. We booked our flights with this airline to Cebu, a popular destination in central Philippines.
Note: This is a personal blog on our travel experience and is neither promoted nor endorsed by AirAsia.
Booking process
My mom visited a travel fair in Pasay, Metro Manila, and booked our Cebu flights from an agent at an AirAsia kiosk at the fair. We traveled as a group of three, which consisted of me, my mom, and my grandmother, and paid 4,500 pesos per passenger, excluding add-ons. We traveled to fetch our kasambahay (house helper) from Cebu.
Although it has been common for us to book our flights online, this was booked via an agent.
It is the passenger's preference to separately purchase individual add-ons for AirAsia flights, or to book using a bundled package. Booking AirAsia offers two options:
- Value Pack - comes with 20 kilograms of free baggage allowance, a choice of a pre-selected seat, and a meal. See this link for more information.
- Premium Flex - same perks as above but includes flexible plans like rebooking to a maximum of 2 times, along with other benefits. See this link for more information.
Departing flight: Friday, July 5, 2024
We left at quarter to one in the early morning and rode a Grab to Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2, arriving at 01:27. Terminal 2, dubbed the "Centennial Terminal" because of its completion in 1998 — the centennial anniversary of Philippine independence. Once serving as the domestic and international hub of flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL), PAL relocated to Terminal 1 in 2023, making space for AirAsia's transfer of domestic operations from the smaller Terminal 4 to the larger Terminal 2.
The terminal is divided into the north and south wings. The north wing hosts the domestic flights of Philippine Airlines and PAL Express; this used to house PAL’s international flights. Meanwhile, the south wing hosts the domestic flights of AirAsia and Royal Air Philippines, another budget airline. PAL also has check-in counters at the south wing, but only for flights to Antique, Basco (Batanes), Busuanga (Coron), Calbayog, Catarman, and Siargao. The other counters for all other destinations are at the north wing.
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| AirAsia's 20 check-in counters at NAIA Terminal 2 were full of long lines. |
Long lines welcomed us at the south wing of the terminal. However, our T2 experience was better than T4 because of the former’s larger space than the latter. Twenty check-in counters were provided solely for the airline, with PAL and Royal Air Philippines having ten each. We checked in two suitcases, leaving a small, empty one as hand-carry. The agent-in-charge of the counter offered us to buy onboard meals at the last minute, but we declined. We then headed to the security check., where it took around five minutes to complete.
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| Our aircraft: a 2007-built Airbus A320-216, registered RP-C8967. |
Flight information
Boarding started at 02:19. Passengers seated on Zone 1 (rows 1 to 5, and emergency exit rows 12 and 14, also known simply as the “Hot Seats”) with senior citizens and other priority needs were the first to board, followed by regular passengers seated in rows 20 to 31 (Zone 2), then 6 to 19 (Zone 3). I was seated at window seat 20A on the left of the 180-seater Airbus A320.
A significant number of passengers that flew with us were student-athletes and delegates from Oriental Mindoro to the 2024 Palarong Pambansa, which was held from July 9 to 16 in Cebu City.
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| The interior of our plane to Cebu. |
Pushback commenced at 03:04 as we taxied to Runway 06 (06/24). We then took off at 03:21 before immediately banking right south. Moderate turbulence hit us for around five minutes. The plane cruised at 35,000 feet. Although the plane is equipped with onboard Wi-Fi, it was not working at the time. I also chose not to order inflight meals because we took a very early flight.
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| A picture with the flight attendants! From left to right: Al, Jesh, and Klaire |
We soon began our descent at 04:09 before finally landing nine minutes later—after fifty-six minutes of flying—based on Flightradar24 data. We landed at Runway 22 (04/22) of Mactan–Cebu International Airport in Lapu-Lapu City. We came to a complete stop by 04:23 at Terminal 1. The passengers started deplaning four minutes later, letting them go before me and my entourage. Before that, however, my mom took a picture of me with flight attendants Al (purser), Jesh, and Klaire, before I gave them heartfelt letters. Within the next twenty-five minutes, the plane was turned around for the next flight back to Manila.
Upon exiting, you will be greeted with the nice Airport Village that was constructed during Terminal 1's renovation between 2018 and 2019. We then rode a taxi to our hotel, RF Suites, in Cebu City.
Read my blog about my Cebu City tour here.
Watch my trip report on YouTube:
Return flight: Sunday, July 7, 2024
After three days in Cebu, it was time for us to bid farewell to the Queen City of the South and head back to Mactan-Cebu International Airport. We arrived at Terminal 1 at 14:49. We soon headed to the check-in counters. The line was a bit long, but unlike our previous flight, we finished it a bit faster, in 15 minutes (compared to the previous 20). At the airside, I did a bit of plane spotting while waiting for our plane to arrive.
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| RP-C8950, a China-built Airbus A320-216, took us home from Cebu. |
Flight information
Our aircraft, an Airbus A320-216 registered as RP-C8950, was delivered new to Philippines AirAsia from Tianjin, China in October 2018. Unlike most A320s, this one is configured with 186 economy seats, setting it apart from other aircraft which only have 180 seats. The six additional seats were achieved using the Space-Flex rear galley configuration and the Smart-Lav modular lavatory design—allowing an in-flight change of two lavatories into one accessible toilet. The six additional seats in newer aircraft were once occupied by two lavatories.
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| The interior of our plane! |
We took off at 17:04 via Runway 04 (04/22). Our plane cruised at an altitude of 32,000 feet, flying mostly above water. Inflight catering began soon after the seatbelt sign was switched off at 17:09.
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| I pre-ordered their Chicken Inasal meal for only 150 pesos. |
I then ate our dinner in-flight—pre-ordering their Chicken Inasal meal for only 150 pesos. What I did not see was that this meal was served with atchara—a famous papaya pickle used as a condiment in some Filipino dishes. Meanwhile, the remainder of the flight was uneventful.
AirAsia's Santan menu offers a variety of hot meals that you can pre-book up to 24 hours before your flight. Hot meals differ depending on what AirAsia subsidiary you fly—see this website for the full list.
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| My first ever picture with a female pilot; includes the finger heart pose. Thank you, First Officer Samantha Regalado! |
We landed in Manila at 18:10 — twenty minutes ahead of schedule. Before deboarding, I took this opportunity to visit the plane’s cockpit and have a picture with First Officer Samantha Regalado, as well as the flight attendants. I actually made an AirAsia papercraft back in 2022, which I brought with me during these flights. It was We immediately left the plane as it prepared for another flight to Cagayan de Oro, a city in northern Mindanao.
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| One last picture with the flight attendants. Thank you, Shiela and the rest of the crew! |
Interestingly, I saw the crew members again at the baggage claim area, waving my hands to them as I wrap another fun flight. We then rode a Grab going back to our house in Quezon City.
Watch my trip report on YouTube:
Verdict
Timing and frequency
AirAsia offers up to 56 flights a week in the Manila-Cebu route, considered the busiest domestic route in the Philippines. Its schedule is very flexible that you can choose early morning flights, like we did for the departing flight, and end your vacation before the sun sets, like what we did for the return flight.
Overall service
AirAsia undoubtedly offers the world's best low-cost service (ranked by Skytrax consecutively since 2009), with its gorgeous and friendly crew members, comfortable seats, good food quality, and its clean aircraft. The quality of service remains the same throughout its flights.
As such, I recommend flying with AirAsia on your next vacation. My ratings for each flight can be viewed on my respective YouTube videos in this blog.
See also my other blogs:
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