Gokongwei-led budget airline Cebu Pacific (CEB) and Saudi Arabia’s flyadeal have forged a strategic partnership to explore aircraft leasing and operational synergies to strengthen their network and capacity.

Under a memorandum of understanding signed on Wednesday, flyadeal will lease two Airbus A320 aircraft from CEB for the upcoming summer peak travel season in Saudi Arabia. 

CEB, in turn, will consider leasing flyadeal’s A320s during Southeast Asia’s winter travel peak later this year.

“Today’s agreement is momentous as it marks flyadeal’s first ever strategic airline partnership,” flyadeal CEO Steven Greenway said during a media briefing.

“It was clear and obvious that flyadeal could learn a lot from Cebu Pacific’s experience of low-cost long-haul operations given we will be inducting the same A330-900neos into our fleet in just two years,” he added.

The partnership may also extend to cooperation in maintenance, engineering, and knowledge sharing, particularly around Airbus A330-900neo operations. 

flyadeal plans to deploy 10 A330 widebody aircraft between Saudi Arabia, the Philippines, and Southeast Asia starting in 2027.

For CEB CEO Mike Szucs, the deal aligns with the airline’s strategy to maximize fleet utilization year-round.

“With Cebu Pacific’s growing fleet, we seek to maximize the potential of our increased capacity through all months of the year. The utilization of our capacity by other carriers during our lean season is a way of achieving that,” Szucs said.

“This partnership with flyadeal highlights Cebu Pacific’s growing capability to support international carriers through wet leasing and broader operational collaboration. It diversifies our revenue streams and further expands Cebu Pacific’s presence beyond the Asia Pacific region,” he added.

CEB and flyadeal also agreed to continue to hold regular meetings to develop and finalize the details of their joint commercial initiatives. Discussions will focus on refining the scope of the wet-lease arrangements and identifying additional areas for strategic collaboration, including operational support, training, and long-term fleet planning.