Giant aerospace firm Airbus are considering a collaboration with the Department of Transportation on carbon removal initiative.

Airbus is currently in touch with a DoTr working group to identify possible sources of fuel with high-density populations.

“So, used cooking oil is an opportunity where if it can be collected in larger quantities because there’s a lot of competition, it can be recycled as treated biofuels,” Anand Stanley, president of Airbus, said.

“We are also trying to study with the Department of Transportation waste landfills. It is large amount of trash. Other technologies that we can use is carbon energy from the landfills,” he added.

Stanley said the venture has started to become financially viable because of the high cost of carbon credit for aviation, noting that local airline companies Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific could sell the credit to German airline Lufthansa if they do not want to move it.

The Airbus offer is significant amid Cebu Pacific’s refleeting plan.

CEB president and chief commercial officer Xander G. Lao has said the company is carefully deciding whether to take European industrial giant Airbus and US planemaker Boeing for the order, known in the industry as a request for proposal or RFP.

Lao said the deadline for the decision was extended until the end of the first half instead of the planned deadline at the end of the first quarter.

“We had initially said we would come up with a decision in the first quarter, but then now, the first half was our latest guidance. The process is going back and forth with the key suppliers. It’s not just Airbus and Boeing, but it’s also the engine manufacturers,” Lao told reporters.

“The process is ongoing. You’re talking about a 100 to 150 aircraft deal. It’s not just buying ice cream. It’s complicated,” he added.

According to Lao, the earliest that the new fleet will arrive would be around 2027 or 2028.

CEB plans to spend about P50 billion this year, the bulk of which will be earmarked for the acquisition of 16 aircraft — bringing its current fleet of 76 to 92.

Of the total fleet, Lao said the company expects anywhere between 10 and 20 aircraft to be parked because of Pratt & Whitney throughout the year, which it will mitigate by short-term leases.

Growth target achievable

Meanwhile, Lao reaffirmed that the air carrier is on track to hit its annual growth target due to the improved passenger and travel demands.

“I think we’ll continue to grow by around, I think our guidance to the market was around 5 to 8 percent for 2024. We are pretty confident in reaching the higher end of that growth projection in terms of overall capacity,” Lao said.

CEB has yet to release its 2023 full-year financial report but the latest data showed that the company generated a P1.3 billion net income in the third quarter of last year.

The rosy bottom line profit was a turnaround from a P2.5 billion net loss in 2022 and P384 million in 2019.

CEB also saw a notable increase in travel demand in the third quarter, attributable to the change in school calendars, which shifted graduation and school breaks from June to August.

From July to September 2023, CEB flew 5.3 million passengers onboard 35,000 flights, which were 27 percent and 18 percent higher year-on-year, respectively.