Cebu Pacific logged 11% passenger growth

CEBU Pacific Air flew 13.26 million passengers in 2012, a company report presented at a tourism event stated.

Assistant corporate communications manager Michelle Eve de Guzman said this is just shy of their 14 million target for the year, registering an 11 percent growth in passengers for the company.

De Guzman, who presented the report at an event hosted by the Singapore Tourism Board, said the company had a 45 percent domestic passenger market share and 48 percent domestic cargo market share in the country, as reported by the Philippine Civil Aeronautics Board.

The report claimed the airline had the Most domestic and international passengers carried and offered the largest seat capacity than any Philippine carrier. They also claim to currently have the largest aircraft fleet in the country.

They were also proud to announce winning Singapore’s Budgies and Travel Awards 2012 for low-cost carrier of the year and LCC CEO of the year, which were awarded during the Low Cost Airlines World Asia Pacific Congress. The Airline Strategy Awards in London also gave the low-cost leadership award to the company’s president and CEO, Lance Gokongwei.

De Guzman believes their ability to offer different things for the customer allows them to be the low-cost carrier of choice.

Among the things they recently introduced are the web check-in, which is available for free with seat selections from 48 hours to four hours before any Airbus flight.

Their international flights also offer hot meals featuring Filipino classics like beef caldereta, bistek tagalog, chicken adobo and chicken barbecue and are made available on booking and in flight.

They also claim to be the first low-cost carrier in Southeast Asia to offer on air Wifi, which is available for a fee on long-haul flights on the Airbus A330, which begin on the third quarter of the year.

De Guzman said 2013 will be a busy year for the airline, as they expect to start offering their first long-haul destination from Manila to Dubai. They are offering an introductory price of P888 for trips to this destination.

Known for their low fare promotions, de Guzman noted that, if planned carefully, travel to destinations like Singapore could cost a passenger as low as P1,800 to P2,000.

Currently, they fly to 32 domestic and 21 international destinations. They operate over 2,000 flights weekly across 60 domestic and 33 international routes.

In December, they started flying to Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur out of Cebu, while they began offering Cebu to Coron flights in October.

Cebu Pacific is also expecting deliveries of more aircraft, which were planned acquisitions for 2013 until 2021. These include 18 Airbus A320 with sharklets, 30 Airbus A321neo4 and Airbus A330. The presence of sharklets, she said, allow the plane to consume 40 percent less fuel. She added that the Neo and A330 will allow them to fly to farther destinations.