Cebu Pacific to add 6 new aircraft this year

MANILA  -Cebu Pacific continues to ramp up its fleet with the expected delivery of additional six jets this year as it addresses flight disruptions due to unavailability of some aircraft currently undergoing maintenance.

In a statement on Friday, the Gokongwei-led airline said that it was now expecting to receive 21 aircraft, more than the 15 it had previously lined up.

Broken down, these include 17 Airbus neo (new engine option) units and four ceo (current engine option) aircraft.

The budget carrier received a brand-new Airbus A321neo from Hamburg, Germany on Jul. 27, its ninth aircraft delivery for the year.

“This aircraft delivery allows us to increase our operational resilience while continuing to provide safe, reliable and affordable air travel to our passengers. Our ongoing refleeting with new-generation, fuel-efficient aircraft and our continued use of sustainable aviation fuel will also help our decarbonization efforts in making the aviation industry more sustainable,” Cebu Pacific chief strategy officer Alex Reyes said.

About a month earlier, it also received an A320neo unit from the Airbus Tianjin facility.

READ: Cebu Pacific receives its first China-assembled Airbus jet

The company has allocated P42 billion in capital expenditure this year for mostly aircraft-related spending.

The local carrier is augmenting its fleet as some of its jets are currently parked for maintenance, resulting in flight cancellations and delays. Engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney is having a hard time servicing immediately all the aircraft queued for maintenance due to supply chain issues.

READ:  Cebu Pacific acquires new wings

The unavailability of some aircraft comes at a time when air travel demand is regaining momentum and the aviation sector is reopening more routes as it claws its way back to full recovery.

Currently, the Gokongwei-led airline’s network covers 35 domestic and 23 international destinations.

Cebu Pacific earlier said it was targeting to restart its Manila-Beijing flights by October given the projected increase in air travel demand to one of the most popular tourist destinations in Asia.

This will be the fifth destination of the carrier in China. In January, it resumed flights to Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Xiamen.

Competitors Philippine Airlines and Air Asia Philippines have also reopened their China network to take advantage of the passenger movement resurgence. INQ