Taking delivery of new jets is unusual during this period. Especially when the aviation industry in the Philippines continue to face challenges. However for one airline, it was business as usual. Cebu Pacific has received its ninth efficient and brand new Airbus A321neo yesterday, May 19. This is still in accordance to the airline’s plan to shift to a more efficient fleet.
So far, Cebu Pacific’s NEO fleet, NEO which means “New Engine Option”, consists of 9 A321neo and 5 A320neo. Cebu Pacific’s A321neos are in Airbus Cabin Flex configuration.
Why does Cebu Pacific continue to take-in Airbus A321neo jets?
Cebu Pacific is not exempted from getting hammered by this pandemic. However, it is also just right that they recalibrate their operations. This is in order to be able to recover and return to profitability faster. One of their plans is to switch to an all-NEO fleet by hopefully 2025 to 2026. Potentially, they may end up operating a fleet of 32 Airbus A321neo, 10 Airbus A320neo, 10 Airbus A321XLR, and 16 Airbus A330-900neo. However, things are still fluid and we may see changes on their orders. This move will provide Cebu Pacific more capacity while saving more on fuel expenses. Currently, each A321neo is fitted with 236 seats. However, there are plans of configuring these to 242 seats. Their current A320-200 are configured with 188 seats.
Now you might be wondering why a lot of seats when travel demand is low. These orders were made prior to the pandemic when the forecast trajectory was to go up further. The plan also of Cebu Pacific was to increase capacity to address the demand without having to pay for additional gate fees. As a result, they decided to maximize the carrying capacity of each aircraft by fitting in more seats.
While this number of seats may not be necessary now, it may be necessary in the future. Travel demand is deemed to surpass pre-pandemic levels in the next two to three years.
Slowly, we will see Cebu Pacific getting rid of their old aircraft in exchange of the newer generation jets.
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