Cebu Pacific fleet expands to 85 this year

MANILA, Philippines — Gokongwei-led Cebu Pacific is beefing up its fleet to at least 85 aircraft this year, beating its pre-pandemic level, as it rebuilds its network to reach its goal of flying back to profitability.

In an interview with The STAR, Cebu Pacific CEO Mike Szucs said the low-cost carrier is expanding its fleet by at least 12 percent this year compared to its pre-crisis total in 2019.

“In terms of operating fleet, our fleet would be 12 percent to 13 percent bigger by the end of the year than it was at the end of 2019,” Szucs said.

Prior to the pandemic, the airline ended with a fleet of 75 aircraft in 2019 that allowed it to make an all-time high of 143,897 flights.

Due to uncertainties brought about by the global health crisis, Cebu Pacific stopped growing its fleet in 2020 and 2021 on concerns when air travel would normalize.

Szucs said Cebu Pacific is hoping that 2023 is the year the airline returns to profitability.

Cebu Pacific operator Cebu Air Inc. booked a net loss of P24.9 billion in 2021, 12.2 percent higher than the P22.2 billion recorded in 2020, amid the sharp drop in passenger revenue due to COVID-related travel restrictions.

From January to September last year, it managed to trim its losses by 45.2 percent to P12.05 billion compared to P21.99 billion in the same period in 2021 as mobility restrictions were lifted in March last year.

To achieve profitability, the airline is returning six aircraft whose rentals are expiring and taking in 15 new units from Airbus.

Initially, Cebu Pacific plans to receive only 10 new Airbus neos for the year, but expanded this to a total of 15 to serve the routes that it has just reopened.

The Gokongwei-led carrier is getting three Airbus A320neos for a 12-year lease and two A320ceos for a short-term lease on top of the 10 aircraft that it ordered for 2023.

Szucs said that although the lease of new aircraft would add up to Cebu Pacific’s expenses, these units have to be taken in nonetheless with the airline reinstating 100 percent of its pre-pandemic routes by April.

Cebu Pacific saw its passenger count more than tripled to 14.85 million in 2022 from 3.41 million in 2021 and also increased its load factor to 75.3 percent from 60.6 percent, signaling the return of travel demand here and abroad.