Cebu Air Inc., the budget carrier of the Gokongwei Group, said Friday it returned to profitability in the first quarter, recording a net income of P1.1 billion after a net loss of P7.6 billion in the same period last year.
The airline, which flies under the brand name Cebu Pacific, attributed the first profitable quarter since the pandemic to the sharp increase in passenger traffic.
Total revenues tripled to P20.9 billion, with earnings from its passenger business surging more than four times to P14.3 billion. The airline’s ancillary business more than tripled revenues to P5.46 billion.
Cebu Pacific flew over 4.8 million passengers in the first quarter compared with just over 2 million in the same quarter in 2022. Seat load factor to jump to 83 percent, up 13 percentage points year-on-year.
The budget carrier flew 32,000 flights in the first quarter, up 94 percent. This resulted in a 63 percent increase in operating expenses.
Operating income turned positive to P1.24 billion in the first quarter from an operating loss of P5.34 billion in the same period last year.
Cebu Pacific still claims the largest network in the Philippines, flying to 34 local and 24 international destinations by end of the first quarter. With 60 routes and over 2,100 weekly flights, CEB’s domestic network was already operating above pre-pandemic levels during the first quarter.
International network continued to gain traction following the easing of travel requirements of north Asian countries.
