CEB load factor climbs to 84.3% in October, 2.1M passengers

Cebu Pacific carried approximately 2.1 million passengers in October 2026, edging up 0.4% from the same month last year as the airline improved aircraft utilization despite reducing seat capacity.

The airline's overall seat load factor (SLF) climbed to 84.3% from 79.3% a year earlier, even as available seat capacity declined by 5.6%.

Domestic passenger traffic slipped 0.5% year-on-year, alongside a 5.6% reduction in capacity, bringing the domestic load factor to 87%.

International operations, meanwhile, recorded a 2.8% increase in passenger traffic despite a 5.5% decrease in seat capacity. This lifted the international load factor by 6.2 percentage points to 77.6%.

Cebu Pacific president and chief commercial officer Xander Lao said the airline maintained passenger volumes while adjusting capacity ahead of the peak travel season.

“We maintained passenger volumes in October with fewer seats, improving our load factors as we managed capacity and prepared our fleet for the upcoming peak travel season,” Lao said.

“Demand remains strong and we are increasingly positive about the commercial outlook heading into the Christmas peak,” he added.

For the first 10 months of 2026, CEB flew nearly 22.9 million passengers, up 3.7% from 22 million in the same period last year.

Domestic passengers increased 4.9% to 17.2 million, while international passenger traffic remained broadly unchanged at 5.6 million.

The airline's year-to-date load factor averaged 82.3%, while total seat capacity grew 6.3% to 27.8 million.