Cebu Pacific acquiring new, bigger aircraft

The first delivery of Cebu Pacific’s first Airbus A321 CEO arrived in March 2018. The A321 NEO version of the aircraft will be delivered to Cebu Pacific this year. Inquirer file photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu Pacific addresses the growing demand and the volatile fuel costs by investing in technology and acquiring new aircraft.

Charo Logarta Lagamon, Cebu Pacific director for Corporate Communications Corporate Affairs, disclosed that the airline would start receiving brand new Airbus A321s this year.

“So far, we are expecting to receive the first of 32 orders Airbus A321 new engine option (neo) in the coming days,” Lagamon said in an interview.

She explained that the A321neo have bigger capacity and could accommodate 236 passengers, 56 more passengers than the A320s’ 180 passengers.

Also, the  A321neo is fuel efficient because it burns less fuel, Lagamon added. 

According to Airbus, the A321 NEO is the most efficient single-aisle jetliner. It delivers 20 percent per seat fuel improvement plus additional range of up to 500 nautical miles or 900 km. as well as two tons of extra payloads.

“Fuel accounts for a significant portion of the cost of any aircraft around the world. Oil prices are becoming volatile; it’s something we always look out for,” she said.

Amid these concerns, Cebu Pacific plans to continually invest in technology, in aircraft and in other measures to make their operations more efficient, Lagamon said. 

“As the efficiency gets higher and higher, it will ultimately bring down operating costs and that would help temper any impact on fares to our consumers,” she noted. 

Cebu Pacific would be receiving an average of nine brand new aircraft starting this year until 2022, Lagamon told CDN Digital.

On the other hand, the bigger A321s would enable Cebu Pacific to meet the growing demand while keeping down operating costs.

The company could no longer add more flight frequencies, especially at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport because of the constraints at the airport.

“We cannot add frequencies in Manila (where) the slots for aircraft are already constrained,” Lagamon pointed out. “Instead of adding a flight, we add 56 more passengers.”

With lower operating costs, Cebu Pacific could also translate these into lower fares or “at least give us opportunity to continually offer low fares,” she said. 

The A321s would also be good for the environment since there would be less carbon emissions.

The new aircraft will be used for international routes and as more A321s are delivered the airline’s fleet would be refreshed with brand new aircraft, which will replace the old aircraft, Lagamon explained./dbs