Thursday, June 16, 2011
BUDGET airline Cebu Pacific has ordered 37 Airbus jets for $3.8 billion, the largest single aircraft order ever made by a Philippine carrier.
The order will allow the company to mount flights to destinations such as "Australia, India and Northern Japan," Cebu Pacific president Lance Gokongwei said on Thursday.
Once delivered, the company will have 30 new Airbus A321neo (New Engine Option) and seven A320 aircraft, Gokongwei added.
"The 220-seater A321neos, the first of its type to operate in the Philippines, will be a real 'game changer' for Cebu Pacific...the A321neo will have a much longer range...[since] it is a larger and longer-haul version of the familiar Airbus A320," he said.
All 37 aircraft, which will be delivered between 2015 and 2021, is separate from an earlier order of 18 Airbus A320 aircraft to be delivered from the second half of 2011 until 2014.
As a result, these transactions increase Cebu Pacific's total orders of Airbus aircraft to 55.
At present, Cebu Pacific has 24 international destinations in China, South Korea, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand
Records from state-run Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) showed that international passenger traffic jumped by 12.44 percent to 14.01 million last year compared with the 12.46 million in 2009.
Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) flew 3.9 million people in 2010 from 3.4 million the previous year, while Cebu Pacific carried 2.06 million passengers, up by 26.4 percent from 1.63 million in 2009.
As a result, Cebu Pacific has doubled its Manila to Incheon (Seoul) services, making it twice daily last January.
It also added thrice weekly flights to its Manila to Bangkok services, making it a 10 times weekly service last February.
Gokongwei earlier set a 25-percent annual growth for its international operations and 10-15 percent for its domestic division.
Philippine Airlines to buy new planes as well
For its part, flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) said it also placed an order for four new Boeing-777 planes at an undisclosed cost.
Joey de Guzman, PAL vice president for corporate communications, told Sun.Star that two of these jets will arrive next year and the rest will be delivered by 2014.
"We also have four A320s coming for the next two years to augment current fleet. Beyond 2014, I still don't have any information," he said.
Cebu Pacific currently utilizes 33 brand-new aircraft, 25 of which are from the Airbus A320 family and eight ATR turbo-prop aircraft. By 2021, the airline will more than double its fleet and triple its capacity.
The 15-year-old airline plans to carry over 12 million passengers this year from 10.5 million in 2010.
Shares of Cebu Pacific, whose profits doubled to P6.92 billion in 2010 from P3.26 billion in 2009, closed at P86.85 apiece on Thursday, up 2.18 percent from Wednesday's P85. (Sunnex)
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