Saturday, August 27, 2005
Cebu Pacific to increase passenger traffic by 18%
By Jenny Molbog-Mendoza
CEBU Pacific Air (CEB) is planning to increase its present passenger traffic of at least 2.2 million per year by at least 18 percent starting this year.
CEB general manager and chief executive officer Danilo "Bong" Mojica said Thursday such projection can be achieved the fact that the airline company is replacing its old aircraft with airbuses.
The airline used to have DC9 and 757 aircrafts before, which can accommodate 115 and 179 passengers, respectively.
With airbuses A319 and A320, the airline can fly 120 and 179 passengers, respectively.
"Lahat ng fleets namin ay papalitan na ng airbus. The major reasons why we have decided to shift to airbus is because of practical reason. More economical sya since mas matipid sa fuel. Actually before, ang hinahanap naman talaga sa amin ng clients ay 'yong mapalitan ang aircrafts namin. We are just giving it back to them. They deserve it," he said.
The first of the two A320 airbuses from Tolouse, France arrived on May 25 and the second on June 4.
Both airplanes will be used for domestic routes.
The airline is also scheduled to take delivery of a brand new Airbus 319 in September, the first of the 12 it has purchased for its refleeting program aimed at expanding its domestic and regional operations.
This will be followed by a delivery in October and two more in December.
The entire refleeting program will be completed by first quarter of 2007.
As the new planes come in, Mojica said, it is likewise expected that flights to and from Korea and Japan will be established as well.
"Even if we have our new planes, we can assure our customers that we'll still be offering very competitive fares. The same brand of service, which is warm and caring, and we'll always be on time pa rin," he said.
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