Cebu Pacific flies high with double-digit passenger growth in May

MANILA, Philippines – Budget carrier Cebu Pacific booked an 11.3% growth in passenger volume in May – the peak of the summer season.

Data from the Gokongwei-owned airline showed it serviced 1.55 million passengers in May or 157,577 passengers more than the 1.392 million passengers it flew in May 2013.

“May is among the peak months for Cebu Pacific,” Cebu Pacific Vice President for Corporate Communications Jorenz Tañada said in a text message Monday, June 30.

Flights of Cebu Pacific were about 91% full during the month, Tañada added.

In the first 5 months, Cebu Pacific flew 6.73 million passengers or 7.2% higher compared to the 6.28 million passengers it carried in the same period last year.

The low-cost carrier’s seating capacity also increased 7.1% to 7.84 million from 7.32 million in 2013. The jump was due to the increase in aircraft number to 52 from 43.

This however translated to a lower load factor of 85.9%, while number of flights declined slightly to 48,630 from 49,147.

Cebu Pacific operates an extensive network of 60 domestic and 34 international routes, with a total of 2,231 scheduled weekly flights. It operates from 6 hubs including the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3, Mactan-Cebu International Airport, Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Clark, Davao International Airport, Iloilo International Airport and the Kalibo International Airport.

Lean fleet, more flights

Cebu Pacific expects to operate a lean fleet of 62 Airbus aircraft with an average age of 4.16 years by 2017 in line with its $4 billion-refleeting program.

By 2017, the airline’s fleet will consist of 41 Airbus 319/320 planes under finance lease, 8 ATR-72 500 aircraft under finance lease, 6 A330s under operating lease, 4 A320s under finance lease, and 3 A321 NEOs.

Cebu Pacific has a total remaining book order of 11 A320s, 30 A321 NEOs, and two A330s. But it is scheduled to return 10 A320s.

The airline currently has a fleet of 52 aircraft consisting of 10 Airbus A319s, 30 A320s, 4 A330s, and 8 ATR-72 500s.

Cebu Pacific is gearing up for possible flights to the US particularly Hawaii and Guam after the US Federal Aviation Administration upgraded the safety rating of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines back to Category 1 on April 9 after being downgraded to Category 2 in January 2008.

The company is also looking at flying to London, Paris and Amsterdam after the European Union lifted in April a ban that prevented the carrier from entering European airspace.

Cebu Pacific has earmarked P14.1 billion for its capital expenditures this year. – Rappler.com