Publicly listed Cebu Air Inc., the holding firm of Cebu Pacific, is seeking tax holidays from the Board of Investments (BOI) for the purchase of two aircraft that will enable it to offer low fares to more routes in Visayas and Mindanao.
In a published notice, BOI said Cebu Air had applied for registration for pioneer status, which would make it eligible for a six-year tax holiday.
The company is applying as a new operator of air transport services for two Airbus A320s.
Sought for comment, Cebu Air said via e-mail it would take delivery of the two A320s in July 2013. The aircraft are covered by Cebu Air’s purchase agreement dated February 2007 with Airbus S.A.S., the company said.
“With the support of government incentives such as income tax holiday, this will allow CEB to be a true low cost carrier, enabling the company to aggressively stimulate passenger traffic growth with its low fares,” Cebu Air said.
The additional fleet will allow more flights to routes in Visayas and Mindanao.
One of the A320s is set to operate the Manila-Davao-Manila (seven times weekly), Manila-Cagayan de Oro-Manila (seven times weekly), and Cebu-Davao-Cebu (seven times weekly) routes.
The other A320 is set to ply the Manila-Davao-Manila (seven times weekly), Manila-Cebu-Manila (seven times weekly), Cebu-Puerto Princesa-Cebu (seven times weekly), Cebu-Davao-Cebu (seven times weekly), Cebu-Bacolod-Cebu (four times weekly), Cebu-Tacloban-Cebu (three times weekly), Cebu-Gensan-Cebu (four times weekly) and Cebu-Pagadian-Cebu (three times weekly) routes.
The aircraft are registered with the Civil Aviation Board (CAB) as required by the 2012 Investment Priorities Plan (IPP).
Gokongwei-led Cebu Pacific operates 10 Airbus A319, 25 Airbus A320, and eight ATR-72 500 aircraft.
Between 2013 and 2021, the low-cost airline will take delivery of 17 more Airbus A320 and 30 Airbus A321neo aircraft.
According to the 2012 IPP rules on transport, incentives may be accorded to passenger and/or cargo operation for commercial purposes. “Acquisition of additional aircraft may be registered as new,” according to the IPP.