Cebu Pacific (CEB), the Philippines’ leading airline, reported that it has flown 185,062 passengers – between Dubai and Manila – from a total of 778 flights from January to December 15, 2022.
This is after it ramped up its roundtrip journeys to twice daily since October 20, 2022, up from once daily in 2019 — marking a higher flight frequency compared to pre-pandemic days.
Cebu Pacific celebrates this milestone with a year-ender sale for Dubai-Manila route for AED399 one-way base fare, running from December 16, 2022 until January 2, 2023.
Travel dates are valid from December 16, 2022 until May 31, 2023 – giving travellers the opportunity to book their flights ahead of time with affordable rates.
CEB’s passenger numbers have rebounded significantly since the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, with the airline carrying 13.3 million passengers on both Philippine domestic and international flights from January to November 2022, a year-on-year increase of 493 per cent.
“Our system-wide capacity is now approaching pre-pandemic levels. We’ve basically grown, in fact, much more than what we were doing pre-COVID in the domestic level. We are seeing green shoots of recovery. It is very encouraging to see more people confidently flying again, not just within the Philippines but even abroad,” said Xander Lao, Chief Commercial Officer at Cebu Pacific.
To date, the airline has restored 92 per cent of its pre-pandemic system-wide capacity following the continuous increase of its domestic and international routes.
As of 15 December 2022, the airline was operating an average of 355 flights per day, covering 34 Philippine domestic and 19 international destinations, and offering around 64,000 seats daily.
To meet growing demand and further increase capacity, CEB has announced plans to take delivery of 11 new Airbus NEO aircraft in 2023, comprising three A320neos, four A321neos, and four A330neos. These aircraft will be powered by blended Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) as part of the airline’s sustainability efforts.
CEB aims to transition to an all-NEO fleet by 2028 and incorporate SAF into all of its operations. The new aircraft will allow the airline to further expand its route network and offer more frequent flights to existing destinations.
In December, CEB expanded its international operations by adding flights to Brunei, Jakarta, Seoul, Taipei, and Hong Kong, as well as additional domestic flights within the Philippines.
