The country’s leading low cost carrier, Cebu Pacific Inc. (CEB), yesterday said its move to increase seat capacity in the Central Visayas region proved worthy as its flights to and from the region increased by 35 percent driven by sustained growth in travel demand.
CEB’s flights to and from Cebu grew to 4,824 flights in January 2025 from 3,580 in January 2024.
The airline in January increased its seat capacity by 52 percent to over 717,000 seats from nearly 473,000 seats.
Xander Lao, CEB president and chief commercial officer, said ina statement said the airline’s continued growth in Cebu “reflects the strong demand for affordable and accessible air travel in Central Visayas.”
“By increasing our flights and seat capacity, we are not only connecting more passengers but also supporting tourism, trade, and economic opportunities across the region,” Lao said.
He said this growth aligns with CEB’s mission to provide more accessible travel options to passengers, especially those in the Central Visayas region, making it easier than ever for every Juan to connect with people, explore new places, and seize opportunities across the Philippines and beyond.
In full-year 2024, CEB flew over 5.6 million passengers to and from Cebu, making up nearly 50 percent of Mactan-Cebu International Airport’s (MCIA) total passenger traffic of 11.3 million for the year.
CEB currently offers direct flights to 24 domestic and six international destinations from MCIA. Last month, CEB said weekly flights stood at 495 for domestic and 46 for international flights.
For this year, Lao said they are expecting passenger traffic to increase by about 25 percent to 30 million from the 24.5 million passenger who flew the previous year.
Lao said their forecast is driven by aggressive expansion in the domestic market.
CEB is also currently beefing up its operations in Clark, as it put in place a total of 15 destinations to and from the Dipsdado Macapagal International Airport.
CEB is set to launch new flight destinations from Clark which include Coron, El Nido, Masbate and Siargao.
CEB operates in 37 domestic and 26 international destinations spread across Asia, Australia, and the Middle East.
