Cebu Pacific has posted a strong 26.3 percent increase in passenger number for February this year, a result that exceeded expectations for a typically lean month. The airline carried 2.2 million passengers during the period, up from 1.72 million in the same month last year, driven by a significant boost in seat capacity.
The Gokongwei-led carrier saw its seat load factor (SLF) improve to 86.8 percent, a 1.5 percentage point increase from previous year. Seat capacity expanded by 24.1 percent, which enabled the airline to accommodate the growing demand.
Domestic traffic was particularly strong, increasing 28.9 percent to 1.61 million passengers. This growth was supported by a 27.3 percent increase in available seats and a higher SLF of 88.1 percent. International passenger traffic also rose by 19.6 percent to 560,000, with a 16.1 percent increase in seat capacity and a 2.4 percentage point gain in SLF, bringing the number to 83.3 percent.
Year-to-date numbers for 2025 show continued growth, with total passenger numbers reaching 4.7 million, a 30 percent increase from 3.6 million in the same period of 2024. Domestic passengers grew by 31.9 percent to 3.5 million, while international traffic rose 25 percent to 1.2 million. The airline’s overall capacity expanded by 27.8 percent to 5.5 million seats, with an average SLF of 86.7 percent.
Candice Iyog, Cebu Pacific’s Chief Marketing and Customer Experience Officer, highlighted the significance of these results. “February traffic remained strong, surpassing capacity expansion and improving seat load factor across both our domestic and international networks,” Iyog said. “Considering that February is typically not a peak travel month for most Filipinos, these results reinforce our confidence that the market has already absorbed the additional capacity we’ve introduced since the third quarter of last year.”
Cebu Pacific continues to offer the widest network coverage in the Philippines, with 37 domestic and 26 international destinations. The airline operates one of the youngest fleets in the world, with 98 aircraft.
