The airline told the local bourse Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022, that it 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 percent of its pre-pandemic domestic capacity, surpassing the airline’s December 2019 level,” the airline said.
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 systemwide capacity is now approaching pre-pandemic levels. We’ve basically grown, in fact, much more than what we were doing pre-Covid at 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.
It also added more flights to existing routes from Cebu to Iloilo, Dumaguete, Legazpi, Surigao, Pagadian and Tacloban.
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 said it aims to transition to an all-NEO fleet by 2028 and incorporate the use of SAF for its entire commercial network by 2030. (KOC with PR)