Cebu Pacific seeks bids for 2028 plane orders

PHOTO FROM CEBU PACIFIC

Cebu Pacific is finalizing bidding plans for a major aircraft order from manufacturers such as European industrial giant Airbus and US planemaker Boeing to meet demand for flights in the latter part of the decade.

Cebu Pacific chair Lance Gokongwei said they were preparing to solicit bids from the companies, known as a request for proposal (RFP), for the purchase order. Because of the long lead time caused by ongoing supply chain problems, the planned order was for the delivery of new planes after several years.

“We’re still designing the RFP but this is for planes probably in 2028 and 2029,” Gokongwei told the Inquirer in a recent interview. “It’s really for growth by then.”

Key win

A potential Boeing order would be a key win for the US company and would mark a major shift for Cebu Pacific, which has been using an all-Airbus fleet since 2006, when it retired its Boeing 757 planes.

For the upcoming order, the airline is also considering Boeing’s next-generation narrow-body 737 family, which competes with the Airbus A320—the workhorse aircraft used by Cebu Pacific and local rivals Philippine Airlines (PAL) and AirAsia Philippines for their domestic and regional operations.

Among the three, PAL has been a longtime customer of Boeing given its extensive international operations. The Lucio Tan-led airline currently operates a fleet of Boeing 777-300ERs for flights to the United State alongside its Airbus A350s.

Expansion plans

Gokongwei said they remain focused on domestic and regional flights and had no near-term plans to acquire long-haul aircraft.

“We have no plans to go to the States,” he said.

He added that new aircraft orders were meant for expansion and they would not cancel any deliveries from Airbus that were scheduled over the next four years.

During the first semester of 2023, Cebu Pacific had 80 planes, comprised of the Airbus A320s and A321s, widebody A333s and ATR 72 turboprop aircraft.

As of June, it was set to take delivery of 10 A320 NEOs, 11 A321 NEOs, 11 A330s, A321 XLRs and two ATR 72-600s until 2027.

Cebu Pacific’s listed operator, Cebu Air Inc., returned to profitability during the first semester as earnings were lifted by the postpandemic revenge travel trend.

Net income from January to June this year hit P3.75 billion, reversing losses of P9.5 billion during the same period last year, while passenger revenues surged 158 percent to over P30 billion.

During the period, Cebu Pacific carried 10.3 million passengers, which was a 63-percent jump over the same period in 2022. INQ