CEBU PACIFIC PROFIT SURGES BY 143%

The operator of budget airline Cebu Pacific saw its net income surge by 143 percent in the first nine months of the year as earnings were lifted by strong passenger bookings and stable costs.

Cebu Air Inc., a subsidiary of the Gokongwei family’s JG Summit Holdings, said on Tuesday that net income from January to September hit P6.75 billion versus P2.78 billion during the same period last year.

Cebu Air has been ramping up capacity to meet rising demand for air travel. Passenger revenue during the nine-month period went up 17.9 percent to P46.6 billion. Some 16.7 million flyers used Cebu Air during the period, representing a growth of 10.4 percent.

Moreover, average fares went up 6.7 percent to P2,794, the budget airline said. Other revenue sources such as cargo and ancillary also went up 5.3 percent and 22.2 percent, respectively.

Overall, Cebu Air’s revenue increased 17.7 percent to P63.62 billion.

Cebu Air said expenses were mostly kept in check during the period. Operating expenses increased 7.8 percent to P53.81 billion, in line with expanded operations.

Flying operations alone went up 2.5 percent to P22.56 billion. Cebu Air said this was mainly due to pilot training costs as it took delivery of new planes. Fuel expenses also dropped 1.4 percent or P260.67 million during the period.

For the third quarter alone, Cebu Air posted a net loss of P384.3 million, narrower than the previous year’s loss of P518.43 million. Revenue of P18.92 billion, up 16.7 percent, alongside stable operating costs helped lower losses during the third quarter of 2019.

Cebu Air ended September with 72 planes. Its fleet was comprised of 31 Airbus A320, seven Airbus A321 CEO, three Airbus A320 NEO, two Airbus A321 NEO, eight Airbus A330, eight ATR 72-500 and 13 ATR 72-600.

Its network spanned 80 domestic routes and 41 international routes with a total of 2,727 scheduled weekly flights.