The airline was established on 26 August 1988 , and started operations on March 8 , 1996 . Republic Act No. 7151 , which grants franchise to Cebu Air , Inc. was approved on 30 August 1991 . Cebu Air , Inc. was subsequently acquired by JG Summit Holdings ( owned by John Gokongwei ) . Domestic services commenced following market deregulation by the Philippine government . It temporarily ceased operations in February 1998 after being grounded by the government due to an accident , but resumed services later the next month following re-certification of its aircraft . It initially started with 24 domestic flights daily among Metro Manila , Metro Cebu and Metro Davao . By the end of 2001 , its operations had grown to about 80 daily flights to 18 domestic destinations
accident
Cebu Pacific Flight 387
Cebu Pacific