Cebu Pacific

Cebu Pacific is the Philippines' largest low-cost airline, built on cheap fares, high frequency and a network that threads the archipelago together from Manila and Cebu before reaching out across Asia and, on its biggest jets, to the Gulf and Australia. The model is pure low-cost: the fare buys the seat, and bags, meals, seat selection and legroom are all sold separately.

There is no business class anywhere in the fleet, and no premium economy either; every aircraft is a single economy cabin, sized to the route. That honesty cuts both ways. On an hour-long island hop the formula is hard to argue with. On the long-haul flights the same formula is applied to sectors of eight hours and more, and it pays to know exactly what you are buying before you board.

The workhorses are the A320 and A321 families, ceo and neo, all in a three-by-three single-class layout that varies only in how many rows the fuselage allows. The densest A320neo fit pushes the type about as far as it goes, to the point that the forward galley was turned sideways to free up floor space for extra seats.

At the ends of the scale sit two very different aircraft. The ATR 72-600 turboprop covers the short island routes in a two-by-two cabin with no middle seat at all. The A330-900neo does the opposite job: it is the densest example of the type in service, fitted nine-abreast where full-service airlines fit eight, and it carries the airline's long-haul flying to destinations the narrowbodies cannot reach.

The cabins are modern, clean and unapologetically tight. Most of the fleet uses slimline seats with little or no recline, standard pitch sits around the 28-inch mark on the narrowbodies, and the tightest A320neos run an inch below that. There are no seat-back screens, so entertainment is whatever you bring, and food and drink are buy-on-board or pre-ordered.

Short sectors wear this lightly; the trade of comfort for fare is exactly what the ticket price advertises. The A330-900neo long-haul flights are the honest exception to take seriously: a narrow seat and a full cabin for eight-plus hours is an endurance exercise, and the sensible response is to spend some of the money the fare saved on the roomiest row you can buy, then board with your own snacks, screen and neck pillow.

Prepay for legroom. The over-wing exit rows are the standout seats on every jet in the fleet and they are sold as a paid extra; on the A321neo one exit row has a clear stretch of floor ahead of it that is the closest thing to business class Cebu Pacific offers. On several A320s the forward third of the cabin also carries slightly easier pitch than the rear, so a cheap forward-zone selection beats a random allocation at check-in.

On the A330-900neo, an aisle seat is worth real money on a long flight, since climbing over two neighbours in a nine-abreast cabin gets old quickly; couples should note there are no window pairs here, and the middle of the centre block is the seat to pay your way out of. On the ATR 72, boarding is by the rear steps, so the back rows are first on and first off, and the seats in line with the propellers carry the most noise. The last rows of every jet sit by the galley and lavatory queues, and on a full flight you will know it.