.jpg)
Budget carrier Cebu Pacific announced that it will receive 11 more aircraft worth roughly $2 billion (about P111.8 billion) next year which will enable it to boost capacity, grow its route network and completely restore its operations pre-pandemic.
The 11 new engine option (neo) planes from Airbus included four A330s, four A321s, and three A320s, Cebu Pacific chief commercial officer Xander Lao said in a press briefing. Although the official declined to answer how much the company will allot to purchase the new aircraft, estimates from available online resources say the total cost would come to roughly $2.03 billion.
“We are pretty much expecting a delivery every month in 2023,” Lao said.
ALSO READ
Heads Up: Cebu Pacific Resumes Flights to Australia
Cebu Pacific Is Flying Cebu to Incheon Daily Starting in September
The new planes will be deployed in routes that have yet to be reopened as well as routes whose frequencies are to be increased, especially “non-Manila” sectors, he added.
According to the budget airline, about 92 percent of its pre-pandemic system-wide capacity has been restored, with continuous increase of its domestic and international routes, flying 355 flights per day on average.
Cebu Pacific says it now flies to 34 domestic and 19 international destinations, or about 64,000 seats per day.
Lao said the carrier is expected to return to its pre-pandemic full operations by the first semester of 2023.
“Our system-wide capacity is now approaching pre-pandemic levels,” he said. “We've basically grown, in fact, much more than what we were doing pre-COVID in the domestic level. We are seeing green shoots of recovery. It is very encouraging to see more people confidently flying again, not just within the Philippines but even abroad.”
Lao said Cebu Pacific expects 2023 to be better in terms of passenger and cargo loads, despite uncertainty from fuel prices, peso-dollar exchange rates, as well as recessions.
“We always have to be cautiously optimistic,” he said. “The flight path that we’ve seen so far this 2022, in fact maybe looking forward to 2023, it’s certainly much more refreshing than 2021. We’re trying to control what we can control.”
.jpg)
