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By Darwin G. Amojelar, Reporter
CEBU Pacific said passenger
traffic is expected to double this year owing to its new domestic
and regional destinations.
In a statement, Lance Gokongwei,
airline president and chief executive, said the company is targeting
to carry more than five million passengers this year noting that in
2006, it carried 3.5 million with an average load factor of 75
percent.
In 2005 Cebu Pacific carried 2.2
million passengers.
“2006 was a milestone year for
the airline with the near completion of our refleeting program and
the continued expansion of our operations both in the domestic and
regional markets,” Gokongwei said during the 4th Low-Cost Airline
Congress in Singapore.
He reiterated that Cebu Pacific
presently has the most number of domestic destinations, flights and
routes, outflanking Philippine Airlines, the country’s first flag
carrier.
“We also offer the lowest fares
and operate the youngest fleet in the country, and one of the
youngest in Asia,” Gokongwei said.
The airline unit of Gokongwei
family-led JG Summit Holdings Inc. has been aggressively expanding
its regional and domestic operations with the launch of six new
regional routes and five new domestic destinations over the past
seven months.
“With the arrival of our 13th
aircraft last week and our 14th aircraft in February, we will
continue opening new routes and serving new destinations. We start
our second daily frequency to Dumaguete on January 25, we are
increasing our frequency to Korea from 10 times weekly to 17 times
weekly, and we also start flying to Jakarta by the end of the
month,” Gokongwei said.
Cebu Pacific operates 13
brand-new Airbus aircraft with an average fleet age of less than a
year to its 20 domestic and 7 regional destinations. The airline’s
$670-million refleeting program will be completed next month.
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