Cebu Air Inc., operator of budget carrier Cebu Pacific, reported a P14.7-billion net loss for the first nine months of the year, a reversal from last year’s P6.8-billion net income, as operation is still far behind from normal levels due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Cebu Pacific said revenues for the nine months dropped 70 percent to P19.3 billion from P63.6 billion revenues last year.
Commercial passenger operations restarted last June 3 for domestic flights, but in a limited capacity. The group gradually resumed more regular services, but still far behind the normal activity level, Cebu Pacific said.
Passenger revenues fell by 75 percent to P11.9 billion from P46.6 billion due to a 71.9-percent decline in passenger traffic from 16.7 million last year to 4.7 million this year, as the number of flights dwindled by 66.3 percent, coupled with an 8.7 percentage points decrease in seat load factor from 87 percent to 79 percent.
Cebu Pacific also reduced average fares by 9.2 percent to P2,537 from P2,794 which also contributed to the reduction of revenues.
Cargo revenues fell 17.7 percent to P3.4 billion from P4.3 billion l attributable to the decrease in volume transported in 2020 by 55.8 percent, partially offset by a higher yield primarily from chartered cargo services.
