Cebu Pacific reported Thursday a 17.6-percent growth in the volume of passengers it carried in 2024 amid strong travel demand and a robust economy.
The airline unit of the Gokongwei Group said it flew 24.5 million passengers in 2024, higher than 20.9 million it served in 2023.
It said of the total, domestic passengers increased 15 percent to 18.5 million, while international passengers grew 24.6 percent to 6 million.
The airline’s seat load factor averaged 84.4 percent, while overall capacity seats grew 17.1 percent to 29.1 million.
Cebu Pacific carried 2.6 million passengers in December, up by 31.4 percent from the same month in 2023. Seat load factor improved to 85.2 percent from 84.8 percent, while seat capacity grew 30.7 percent.
Domestic passengers grew 32 percent from December 2023 on 34.5-percent higher seats, with a SLF of 85.4 percent
CEB said the traffic growth was driven by strong demand around the Christmas holiday period, supported by route launches from new bases in Iloilo and Davao.
Its Davao Hub traffic grew 2.4 times compared to same period last year, driven by new destinations such as Boracay, Puerto Princesa and Tacloban.
Meanwhile, its Iloilo Hub added five more destinations at Dumaguete, Daraga, Tacloban and Tagbilaran, resulting in 3.3-times increase in hub traffic year-on-year.
International passenger traffic grew 29.5 percent year-on-year, supported by 21-percent increase in seats, which allowed a 5.6-percentage point increase in SLF to 84.7 percent.
Japan, Vietnam, Thailand and Hong Kong recorded strong growth, driven by additional frequencies and capacity for key destinations.
“CEB is strategically positioned to take advantage of the Philippines’ economic growth and robust travel demand. The increased growth rate through the fourth quarter of 2024 has already been absorbed by the market with load factors stable to positive versus the previous year,” CEB chief executive Mike Szucs said.
“We will continue to focus on the reliability and stability in our operations through our ongoing management of powdered metal issues with Pratt &Whitney and at the same time optimizing our capacity to serve the increase in consumer demand,” he said.
CEB offers the widest network coverage in the Philippines with 37 domestic c and 26 international destinations. It operates one of the youngest fleets in the world, with a fleet of 98 aircraft.
