Cebu is the obvious hub for the middle of the Philippines, and the airlines treat it as one: Mactan has more domestic destinations than anywhere outside Manila. But an airline hub is built around aircraft that need long runways and full cabins, so the map it draws is a map of cities. The islands people actually go to Cebu to reach, the beach islands and the small ones, are mostly not on it. Bantayan, Panglao and Ormoc have no scheduled flight from Cebu at all; Siquijor and Camiguin have one thin route each. The same islands are 25 to 45 minutes away in a light aircraft.
This is the Visayas mirror of our Palawan to the Visayas guide: one table of every priced leg out of Mactan, with the block time, the live whole-aircraft price and an honest note on what the airlines offer instead. Prices are for the aircraft, not the seat; a Cessna 172 seats three, so divide by your group.
Where a charter is the only flight
Five islands within an hour of Mactan where the airstrip exists and the airline does not, or barely does. On these the comparison is not with a scheduled flight but with a bus, a pier and a ferry.
| Cebu to | In the air | Whole aircraft from | Scheduled flights |
|---|---|---|---|
| Panglao, Bohol | about 25 min | ₱48,000 · $800 | None. Too close for an airline, too far for a quick ferry. |
| Ormoc, Leyte | about 25 min | ₱52,200 · $850 | None from Cebu. Ormoc is a ferry town. |
| Santa Fe (Bantayan Island), Cebu | about 30 min | ₱46,200 · $800 | None. The strip at Santa Fe has no airline. |
| Siquijor, Siquijor | about 35 min | ₱46,200 · $800 | One thin route, a few days a week, sells out early. |
| Mambajao, Camiguin | about 45 min | ₱57,600 · $950 | Thin. A daily-ish turboprop when it operates. |
Two of these have their own guides: Bantayan, the cheapest leg on the site and the one that beats a five-hour bus-and-ferry morning, and Siquijor, whose airstrip is still mostly a charter story. Camiguin is the island the flight schedules forgot; Panglao is the gateway to Bohol and, at 25 minutes, the shortest cross-sea leg we sell.
Where a charter is the better flight
Six cities the airlines do serve from Cebu, daily and cheaply. Here the case for a private aircraft is narrower and honest: the timetable is the airline's, the seats run out at fiesta and surf season, and a group doing two islands in a day cannot do it on a schedule. The block times are longer, and on the longest legs the comparison shifts towards the airline for anyone whose dates are flexible.
| Cebu to | In the air | Whole aircraft from | Scheduled flights |
|---|---|---|---|
| Silay, Negros Occidental | about 40 min | ₱60,000 · $1,000 | Daily jets. The charter is for the days and hours they do not fly. |
| Cabatuan, Iloilo | about 50 min | ₱93,600 · $1,550 | Daily jets. Same story: timing, not access. |
| Dipolog, Zamboanga del Norte | about 55 min | ₱96,000 · $1,600 | A daily turboprop; sells out around fiestas. |
| Del Carmen, Surigao del Norte | about 70 min | ₱84,000 · $1,400 | Several a day, and still short of seats in surf season. |
| Davao City, Davao del Sur | about 80 min | ₱150,000 · $2,450 | Frequent jets. Charter suits multi-stop days and Samal transfers. |
| Zamboanga City, Zamboanga del Sur | about 110 min | ₱186,000 · $3,050 | Daily jets. The longest leg in the network. |
Block times are typical for a Cessna 172 and confirmed at booking. Scheduled-service notes are a summary as of publication; check the airline for the day you travel.
Siargao deserves a word of its own. It has several flights a day from Cebu and is still the leg where private aircraft are most in demand, because from September to November the swell, the surfing cup and the cancellations arrive together. It is also the only island on this list with a priced onward leg that skips Cebu entirely: Siargao to Bohol direct, about 80 minutes, on a pair no airline flies.
Using the hub
- Land international, leave light. Mactan's charter apron is the same airfield as the international terminal. A group arriving from abroad can be on Panglao or Bantayan within the hour rather than at the end of a second day.
- Chain the short legs. Panglao, Siquijor and Camiguin sit in an arc south of Cebu, each under an hour from the last. The five-island circuit does them in order, with Cebu as the start and finish.
- Watch the empty legs. Every one of these aircraft flies home to Mactan, often empty. The empty-legs board lists those repositioning flights at a fraction of the charter price, and Cebu is where most of them start or end.
- Know the aircraft. Almost every Cebu leg is a three-seat Cessna 172; Panglao is also priced on a five-seat Stationair. What that means for luggage and group size is in which aircraft you are actually booking.