More than 2.7 million passengers flew via Cebu Pacific (CEB) in January, up 6.2 percent from a year earlier, as the budget airline ramped up seat capacity to capture rising travel demand.

In a stock exchange report on Friday, the Gokongwei-led company said its seat capacity expanded by 9.9 percent during the month, outpacing passenger growth and pushing the system seat load factor (SLF) down to 83.6 percent from 86.5 percent a year ago.

Domestic passenger traffic rose by 5.1 percent year-on-year on 7.9 percent higher seat capacity, resulting in a domestic SLF of 84.7 percent.

International traffic grew faster, increasing 9.4 percent, but the sharper 15.5 percent expansion in seats pulled international SLF down by 4.4 percentage points to 80.7 percent.

“Cebu Pacific’s strong January performance demonstrates the resilience of underlying travel demand and the effectiveness of our capacity deployment strategy,” said Xander Lao, President and Chief Commercial Officer of Cebu Pacific.

“The increase in passenger volumes across both domestic and international segments highlights the market’s confidence in our network and value proposition,” he added. 

Buoyed by the strong start to the year, Lao said the airline is confident it can sustain growth as it optimizes fleet utilization and expands seat capacity.

CEB currently offers the widest network in the Philippines—flying to 37 domestic and 26 international destinations. Its 100-aircraft fleet is among the youngest in the world.