Cebu Air passenger volume up 11.2% in July

CEBU AIR, Inc., the listed operator of Cebu Pacific Air and Cebgo, grew its passenger volume for July by an annual 11.2%, bringing it closer to its full-year target.

Latest statistics released on Friday showed that the budget carrier flew 1.48 million passengers last July, higher than the 1.33 million in 2014’s comparable month.

The Gokongwei-led airline’s capacity rose by 13.4% to 1.86 million from 1.64 million; while seat load factor declined by 1.6 percentage points to 79.2% from 80.8%. Number of flights went up by 11.8% to 11,164 from 9,985.

The latest figures brought the seven-month passenger tally to 10.7 million, up by 8.6% from the 9.85 million in the same period last year. Seat capacity in the same period increased by 13.3% to 13.13 million from 11.59 million.

The company had set a passenger volume target of at least 18 million and “low- double digit increase” in seat capacity this year.

In an e- mail reply last week, Cebu Air said its “targets will be retained.”

For 2016, Cebu Air “made requests for additional traffic rights in longhaul markets such as UAE ( United Arab Emirates) and Australia, as well as in Japan and Taiwan.”

“We are interested in adding destinations in those markets, and adding frequencies on existing routes into those countries. We’ve also said in past that we are interested in serving two destinations in the U. S.: Guam and Honolulu,” the company said.

Cebu Air added that it is working to secure regulatory approvals for US operations within the year.

The firm reported its first- half net income amounted to P5.2 billion — a 63.65% jump from 2014’s comparable period. Operating revenue improved by 10.44% to P29.51 billion. Its shares increased by 80 centavos or 0.93% to end last week’s trading at P87 apiece.