Cebu Pac sells A319 fleet to Nasdaq firm

MANILA, Philippines - Publicly-held Cebu Air Inc. (Cebu Pacific) of business tycoon John Gokongwei is selling its entire fleet of 10 Airbus A319s as part of the airline’s efforts to upgrade to a bigger and newer fleet.

Cebu Pacific president and chief executive officer Lance Gokongwei said in a statement submitted to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) that the airline decided to sell its fleet of A319s to give way to brand new Airbus A320s and A330s.

“The Airbus A319’s are our oldest and smallest jet aircraft. While they have served us well for the last six years as we have grown our business and developed new markets, the time is right to trade up to bigger, brand new Airbus A320 aircraft,” Gokongwei stressed.

The airline said it would sell its entire fleet of 10 A319 aircraft to Nasdaq-listed Allegiant Travel Company to be delivered over a 15-month period starting March next year. A brand new A319 costs about $88.8 million

Cebu Pacific refused to give details on the transaction including the value saying the airline was bound by a confidentiality agreement.

Cebu Pacific currently operates a fleet of 38 aircraft with an average age of 3.6 years consisting of 10 Airbus A319s, 20 Airbus A320s, and eight ATR-72 500 aircraft. It is spending close to $1 billion next year for its re-fleeting program.

Between now and 2014, Gokongwei said Cebu Pacific would be taking delivery of 15 brand new Airbus A320s and four A330s aircraft. Each brand new A320 costs about $96.7 million while A330 is worth between $208.6 million to $231.1 million.

He added that Cebu Pacific is likewise exploring options to advance the delivery of Airbus A320 orders scheduled for delivery between 2015 and 2016.

In all, the Cebu Pacific chief executive pointed out that the airline intends to take the delivery of 22 more Airbus A320s and 30 Airbus A321s neo aircraft orders between this year and 2021.