Cebu Pacific passenger volume up 9% in 1st half

Cebu Pacific (PSE: CEB) flew over 10 million passengers from January to June this year, an increase of 9 percent over the same period in 2015. On average, flights were 87 percent full during these months.

For June 2016 alone, the Cebu Pacific Air group flew 1.6 million passengers, up by 8 percent from the 1.5 million passengers flown in the same month in 2015.

This upsurge in passenger volume was primarily driven by popular domestic destinations in Visayas and Mindanao such as Kalibo, Tacloban, Siargao, and Tagbilaran.

Key international short haul destinations including China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore, also fared well during the first half of 2016. Passengers to and from Japan, in particular, spiked by 21 percent as a result of the launch of Cebu – Tokyo (Narita) in March 2015 and Manila – Fukuoka in December 2015.

Long-haul passengers to and from CEB’s destinations in the Middle East and Australia likewise contributed to the upturn, after posting a substantial increase in volume from January to June 2016 versus the same period last year.

“We are very proud to share with you that since CEB’s inception in 1996, our passengers now number more than 130 million and counting. These promising figures encourage us to cater to the growing travel demand not just in Manila, but throughout our six strategic hubs nationwide. We are optimistic that with the support of relevant airport and government authorities, we can continue offering our trademark lowest fares to even more Filipino travelers in the years to come,” says Atty. JR Mantaring, CEB Vice President for Corporate Affairs.

sCEB’s extensive network spans Asia, Australia, the Middle East, and USA. Just recently, the airline announced three new routes from Cebu to Calbayog (Samar), Ormoc (Leyte), and Roxas (Capiz), bringing its total number of domestic destinations to 36. It also currently flies to 30 international destinations, including Dubai, Incheon, Guam, Tokyo, and Sydney.