Cebu Pacific passenger count surges to 13.9M in H1
The early opening of schools failed to dampened travel demand as Cebu Pacific saw a 21-percent jump in passenger volume for the first half of 2025.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Gokongwei-led low-cost carrier said it flew 13.9 million passengers. This increased from a year ago’s 11.5 million.
Of such a volume, 10.35 million were for domestic flights. The remaining 3.54 million were international passengers.
The firm’s load factor in the first six months inched up to 85.4 percent from 85.3 percent. This was on a total seat capacity of 16.3 million.
Passenger load factor measures the percentage of available seating capacity in an aircraft. A higher figure means higher occupancy or more tickets sold.
Cebu Pacific earlier said that its top-performing local routes in the period were Cebu, Davao, Boracay, Iloilo and Cagayan de Oro.
In terms of international flights, Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, Bangkok and Taipei dominated the list.
Xander Lao, president and chief commercial officer of Cebu Pacific, said passenger traffic “remained resilient.” This, even as the government moved the academic calendar to mid-June this year from July.
Proactive management
In June, passenger volume climbed by 7.9 percent to 2.2 million from 2 million in the same month last year.
“For the first half of 2025, our load factors have increased despite seat growth of more than 20 percent. This reflects the continued strength of air travel demand within our network,” he said.
Lao, however, said Cebu Pacific decided to cut its capacity for the second half. This, given the start of the off-peak travel.
“This also aligns with ongoing proactive management of engine and supply chain issues, and as such, we would expect capacity growth levels to stay at similar levels through the third quarter before rising again in the fourth quarter,” the executive added.
Cebu Pacific’s overall network caters to 37 domestic and 26 international destinations across Asia, Australia and the Middle East. It has a fleet of 99 aircraft.
The company is set to receive more aircraft this 2025 to boost its capacity. Last year alone, it welcomed 17 new aircraft.
