Cebu Pacific restores 92% of pre-pandemic system-wide capacity

Cebu Pacific (PSE: CEB), the Philippines’ leading airline, has restored 92% of its pre-pandemic system-wide capacity following the continuous increase of its domestic and international routes.

The airline now flies an average of 355 flights a day, covering 34 domestic and 19 international destinations. This is equivalent to about 64,000 seats offered in a day.

To date, CEB has restored over 100% of its pre-pandemic domestic capacity, surpassing the airline’s December 2019 level.

CEB flew 13.3 million passengers from January to November 2022, up 493 percent from the same period in 2021, as people rushed back to travel following the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions.

“Our system-wide capacity is now approaching pre-pandemic levels. 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,” said Xander Lao, Chief Commercial Officer at Cebu Pacific.

For December, CEB widened its international footprint as it added more flights to Brunei, Jakarta, Seoul, Taipei, and Hong Kong.

Route	Weekly Frequency
	From	To
Manila – Singapore – Manila	2x	25x weekly (up to 4x daily)
Manila – Brunei – Manila	2x	4x (starting Nov 27, until Jan 15, 2023)
Manila – Jakarta – Manila	3x	5x (starting Dec 1, until Dec 13) 7x (starting Dec 14, until Jan 31, 2023)
Manila – Seoul (Incheon) – Manila	7x	14x (starting Dec 1)
Manila – Taipei – Manila	3x	7x (starting Dec 10)
Manila – Hong Kong – Manila	28x	32x (starting Dec 11, until Jan 30, 2023)

 

CEB also boosted its Cebu hub with additional flights starting December 1:

Route	Weekly Frequency
	From	To
Cebu – Iloilo – Cebu	21x	25x
Cebu – Dumaguete – Cebu	14x	18x
Cebu – Legazpi – Cebu	7x	10x
Cebu – Surigao – Cebu	7x	10x
Cebu – Pagadian – Cebu	10x	11x
Cebu – Tacloban – Cebu	25x	28x (starting Dec 16)

 

To address growing capacity and travel demand, CEB plans to take delivery of 11 brand new Airbus NEO aircraft in 2023: three A320neo, four A321neo, and four A330neo. All aircraft deliveries will use blended Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) as part of the airline’s sustainability efforts. CEB aims to transition to an all-NEO fleet by 2028 and incorporate the use of SAF for its entire commercial network by 2030.