Cebu Pacific on Monday said it plans to mount flights to North Asia and Australia from airports outside Manila amid the congestion at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
“The theme is we should fly direct, avoiding Manila. If we get the Airbus 321 XLR by 2023 and 2024, that gives us possibilities to fly more longer routes, particularly the tourists spots in Visayas and Mindanao connecting to North Asia and Australia,” Lance Gokongwei, president of Cebu Air Inc., told reporters on the sidelines of the Pre-SONA Economic and Infrastructure Forum Monday.
Gokongwei said Cebu Pacific planned to fly to Beijing, China from Cebu and Seoul, Korea from Cebu.
Cebu Pacific last month ordered 31 next generation aircraft from Airbus worth $6.8 billion.
The order comprises 16 A330neo and 15 A320neo family aircraft. The aircraft are scheduled for delivery between 2021 and 2026.
Cebu Pacific also ordered 15 A320neo family aircraft, including 10 A321 XLR (Xtra Long Range) and five 194-seat A320neo. The increased capacity of the A320neo will result in a 7 percent reduction in cost per seat and lower fuel burn and emissions of as much as 15 percent.
Scheduled to start delivering in 2024, the A321 XLR is designed to have a range of up to 4,000 nautical miles and can potentially fly 220 passengers for up to 11 hours. The new and unique capability gives CEB the opportunity to develop new markets from key cities other than MNL.
As the new A320neo enters into service, the older A320ceo aircraft will be subsequently retired.
“Our strategy is to replace our fleet with bigger and more fuel-efficient aircraft to fly more passengers utilizing our existing slots while reducing our environmental footprint per passenger. We will be operating an all Airbus NEO fleet by end-2024 and retiring our older generation jets,” said Gokongwei.
Cebu Pacific currently has a 72-aircraft fleet comprising of two Airbus A321neo, seven A321ceo, one A320neo, 33 A320ceo, eight A330ceo, eight ATR 72-500s and 13 ATR 72-600s.