CebuPac posts 15.7% jump in passengers

Cebu Pacific, the country’s biggest budget carrier, said it carried more passengers in the 10 months through October compared to a year ago as it expanded capacity.

Cebu Pacific, which reported 10-month operating results that included subsidiary Tiger Airways Philippines, noted a 15.7-percent increase in passengers carried to 13.94 million from year-ago level. Its capacity during the period also increased by 13 percent to 16.56 million.

This gave the carrier, a subsidiary of Gokongwei-led JG Summit Holdings, an average load factor of 84.2 percent, up from 82.3 percent last year.

For October alone, Cebu Pacific said it carried 1.41 million passengers, up 24.2 percent from October 2013 level.

The carrier, which competes mainly with Philippine Airlines and AirAsia Zest in the Philippines, is targeting to hit 17 million passengers for 2014, up by 18 percent from 2013, Cebu Pacific CEO Lance Gokongwei said in a previous interview.

The 10-month operating results, posted on the company’s website, also showed that Cebu Pacific mounted 101,586 flights compared to 96,536 flights in the same period last year.

The airline is expecting growth to continue as it recently disclosed an increase in so-called forward bookings. It said that pre-sold seats last month for December 2014 to February 2015 were up over 12 percent.

The increase was realized as the airline said it was increasing flights to nine domestic and three international routes, mainly from local hubs in Manila and Visayas to Singapore, during the peak season.

The carrier, which controls more than 60 percent of the domestic market, said passenger volume increased by 14.8 percent during in the first nine months of the year.

The carrier posted a sharp increase in profit in the nine months through September. Revenues rose while foreign exchanges losses booked were significantly lower that a year ago.

It said net income during the period hit P2.08 billion with revenues reaching P38.45 billion, up by 25.7 percent.

It noted that passenger revenue alone amounted to P29.73 billion, up by 26 percent.

Cebu Pacific saw its fleet expanded from 47 aircraft at the end of the third quarter last year to 51 aircraft as of Sept. 30, 2014. The current fleet includes three brand new Airbus A330 aircraft. It said another plane was added in November, increasing its fleet to 52 planes.