Cebu Pacific receives its first A321neo from Airbus

CEBU AIR, Inc. has received its first Airbus A321neo (new engine option) out of its 32 orders from the European aircraft manufacturer.
In a statement on Monday, Airbus said Cebu Pacific’s A321neo has arrived from Hamburg, Germany and will join the carrier’s fleet of 71 planes. The new generation single-aisle A321neo is expected to support Cebu Pacific’s network expansion in Asia Pacific.
Airbus noted the Gokongwei-led carrier will soon receive five more A320neos from Dublin-based aircraft leasing firm Avolon.
Cebu Pacific also has a pending order of four ATR 72-600s that are scheduled to arrive through 2022. The new aircraft will boost the carrier’s existing fleet of 36 Airbus A320s, seven A321ceos (current engine option), eight A330s, eight ATR 72-500s and 12 ATR 72-600s.
In a separate statement, Cebu Pacific said it was able to reach last year a new milestone of flying its highest number of passengers in a single day.
Last Dec. 21, the budget carrier ferried 68,284 passengers on 414 domestic and international flights from the combined operations of Cebu Pacific and its subsidiary Cebgo.
It also said its total passengers carried during the holidays from Dec. 16 to Jan. 7 grew 7.4% to 1.391 million compared to last year.
“As passenger traffic continues to grow, we are committed to improving our service to make flying with Cebu Pacific more pleasant, safer and more efficient,” Cebu Pacific Chief Operating Officer Michael Ivan Shau said in the statement.
Cebu Air reported a P518-million loss in the first three quarters of 2018 from an attributable net income of P42 million last year, due to the rising cost of jet fuel and the weakening of the Philippine peso. — Denise A. Valdez