Cebu Air Inc., the homegrown budget carrier that goes by the brand Cebu Pacific, said Wednesday it has leased five aircraft this year to address growing capacity and passenger demand amid the so-called revenge travel as pandemic concerns eased.
Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.
The budget carrier told the stock exchange the leased aircraft are on top of 10 new Airbus NEOs that will be delivered this year to expand the airline’s entire fleet.
Xander Lao, Cebu Pacific President and Chief Commercial Officer, said three of the leased aircraft “will be used to re-start the Clark base. The two other aircraft will be used to support overall growth ambitions as CEB recovers fully from the pandemic,” he added.
After taking delivery of its ninth A320 neo in January, Cebu Air increased its fleet to 77 aircraft that includes various Airbus and ATR models.
Data from the Civil Aeronautics Board show Cebu Pacific carried 11.39 million passengers last year from only 2.68 million in 2021.
The airline also flew 435,841 international passengers last year.
Cebu Pacific earlier announced three more routes out of Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) and a combined 13 domestic and international destinations from Clark International Airport.
The airline projects hitting 100 percent of its pre-COVID capacity within this month.
It now flies to 34 domestic destinations and reinstate all its 25 international destinations also within the same timeframe.
