Philippines’ Cebu Air orders 7 Airbus jets but delays delivery of 30 from earlier order

Philippine low-cost carrier Cebu Air said it has placed an order with Airbus for seven A321ceo (Current Engine Option) jets worth in the region of £620 million.

The airline has pushed back delivery of 30 A321 neo (Next Engine Option) aircraft due to delays with the Pratt & Whitney engines.

Cebu Chief Finance Officer, Andrew Huang said;

Cebu Pacific say the order with Airbus for the additional aircraft is for delivery from March 2018.

We have decided to take a conservative approach to the introduction of the A321NEO into our operations.

We remain confident that Pratt & Whitney will address all issues on the GTF (Geared Turbo Fan) engine.

There is, however, the need to increase our current capacity to meet growing domestic and regional network demand, thus the A321CEO order

Lance Gokongwei, Cebu Pacific President and CEO said;

We are very excited about adding the A321 to our fleet.

The aircraft will enable us to increase capacity on popular routes, while at the same time benefiting from the lowest operating costs in this size category.

This will mean more low fares for more customers flying across our domestic and regional network.

Manila-based Cebu Pacific is one of Asia’s leading low cost carriers. Operating domestic, regional and long haul services, the carrier flies to over 60 destinations in Asia, Australia, the Middle East and the USA.

John Leahy, Airbus Chief Operating Officer, said;

We are pleased to sign this additional order with one of the most successful airlines in the Asian region.

With the A321 Cebu Pacific will be able to respond to growing demand with the highest levels of efficiency.

Carrying more passengers further, and at lower cost, the A321 is the perfect solution to meet the requirements of airlines worldwide in the middle of the market segment.

CEB recently took delivery of two brand-new aircraft: an Airbus A330; and an ATR 72-600, to bring its current fleet to 61.

The CEB fleet is comprised of four Airbus A319, 36 Airbus A320, eight Airbus A330, eight ATR 72-500, and five ATR 72-600 aircraft.