CEBU Pacific said Friday that it flew over 2.732 million passengers in January, a 6.2-percent increase from 2.573 million a year earlier, as demand for travel remained strong.
Cebu Pacific president and chief commercial officer Xander Lao said this demonstrated the resilience of travel demand and effectiveness of the budget carrier's capacity deployment strategy.
“Moreover, the increase in passenger volumes across both domestic and international segments also highlights the market’s confidence in our network and value proposition,” he said in a statement.
“As we continue to optimize fleet utilization and expand seat supply, we remain confident in our ability to capture growth opportunities, enhance operational efficiency, and deliver sustained value to our customers and stakeholders."
Seat capacity was said to have increased by 9.9 percent while system seat load factor (SLF) stayed healthy at 83.6 percent from 86.5 percent.
Domestic passengers increased by 5.1 percent to 2.009 million passengers from 1.912 million on 7.9 percent higher seats, resulting in a domestic SLF of 84.7 percent.
International passenger traffic, meanwhile, increased by 9.4 percent year-on-year to 723,000 passengers from 661,000, increasing seat capacity by 15.5 percent and bringing international SLF down to 80.7 percent.
Cebu Pacific operator Cebu Air, Inc.’s share price fell by 25 centavos to close at P36.50 apiece on Friday.
