CEB trims seats ahead holiday surge

Budget airline Cebu Pacific (CEB) carried over 2.1 million passengers in November, down 9.1 percent from the same month last year, as the airline adjusted capacity to prepare for the December and January peak period.

In a Monday report, the Gokongwei-led air carrier said overall seat load factor (SLF) fell to 81.8 percent from 83.2 percent, while total seat capacity declined by 7.5 percent.

Domestic passengers dropped 11.5 percent on 12.2 percent fewer seats, resulting in a domestic SLF of 83.8 percent.

International traffic decreased by 1.8 percent, with seat capacity rising 7.1 percent, bringing international SLF down 6.9 percentage points to 76.8 percent.

Preserve maximum capacity for December and January

“As we entered November, we proactively reduced our flying to preserve maximum capacity for the December and January peak period. In addition, November was defined by severe weather events, particularly typhoons “Tino” and “Uwan,” CEB chief executive officer Mike Szucs said.

Strong forward booking outlook

“These events, along with the challenges associated with re-installation of Airbus software at the end of the month caused further impact to our overall capacity. We now look forward to returning to double digit capacity growth over the coming months to align with the strong forward booking outlook,” he added.

For the year to date, CEB has flown nearly 24.2 million passengers, a 10.0 percent increase from 22.0 million in 2024.

Domestic travel grew 8.5 percent to 18.0 million passengers, while international travel rose 14.9 percent to 6.2 million.

Overall SLF averaged 84.0 percent, with total capacity up 10.3 percent to 28.8 million seats.