THE Board of Investments (BoI) recently approved the P6.1-billion air transport project of Cebu Pacific (Cebu Air, Inc.), recognizing it as a public infrastructure and logistics activity under the 2017 Investment Priorities Plan (IPP).

The project involves the acquisition of one Airbus A330  aircraft on a finance lease scheme with Airbus SAS to add to its current fleet of 58 aircraft.

The new aircraft unit will add to the fleet of Cebu Air, which includes A319s, A320s, A330s and ATR 72-500s and ATR 72-600s.

The A330 is a long-range, twin-aisle commercial passenger aircraft with a maximum passenger capacity of 436.

Commercial operations of the new aircraft began in May this year on the Manila-Incheon and Manila-Bangkok routes and adding 186 new jobs to company’s current roster of around 3,400 personnel.

The IPP, a list of priority investment activities that may be granted incentives, was proposed by the BoI in February and approved by President Rodrigo R. Duterte in March.

The IPP’s focus is innovation-driven and job-generating businesses; inclusive business for agribusiness and tourism; broader coverage of manufacturing activities; information technology (IT) and IT-enabled services for the domestic market and telecommunications services for new market players; and environment and climate change-related projects, among others.

“The growth of the air transport industry remains robust. This will allow Cebu Pacific to further expand its operation as a major budget carrier, stimulating passenger traffic growth with more affordable fares from these strategic routes. More tourists in Asian countries especially from Korea are expected to come in with this new project,” Department of Trade and Industry  Undersecretary and BoI Managing Head Ceferino Rodolfo was quoted as saying in a statement. — Patrizia Paola C. Marcelo

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