Cebu Pacific Negotiating Order For 150 Airbus A320neo To Be Announced At Farnborough Airshow

Airbus and Cebu Pacific Air, a Philippines-based low-cost carrier, are in the final stages of finalizing an agreement for up to 150 Airbus A320neo family aircraft, with the deal potentially being announced at the upcoming Farnborough International Airshow event in July 2024.

Affirming previous reports

According to a report by Bloomberg, citing a person familiar with the matter, Cebu Pacific Air was eyeing up to 150 Airbus A320neo family aircraft, with the deal potentially including 50 additional options. The order could be announced at the upcoming Farnborough International Airshow, which will open on July 22, 2024, and close on July 26.

Photo: Cebu Pacific

The airline already had to clarify and affirm previous reports from local media. In filing on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) on May 15, Cebu Pacific pointed out that Manila Standard reported that the carrier would finalize a $12 billion aircraft order in Q2, with the airline acquiring between 100 and 150 narrowbody jets.

In the filing, Cebu Pacific confirmed the report, clarifying that it had been in the final stages of negotiations with Airbus and Boeing regarding a potential order. The airline was expected to have something to announce during Q2, which ends on June 30, several weeks before the industry event.

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Sticking with Airbus

Currently, Cebu Pacific Air has 68 aircraft in its fleet, split between 19 Airbus A320, 18 A320neo, seven A321, 14 A321neo, two A330, and eight A330-900s. Its regional subsidiary, Cebgo, has a further 22 aircraft: five ATR 72-500, two ATR 72-500F, and 15 ATR 72-600 turboprops, with the fleet totaling 90 aircraft between the two airlines, ch-aviation data showed.

Airbus’ orders and deliveries filings showed that the airline had ordered 111 aircraft from the European plane maker and that Airbus had delivered 78 aircraft as of May 31. The backlog includes six A320neo, 19 A321neo, and eight A330-900 aircraft. However, Cebu Pacific Air has also been struggling with grounded aircraft due to the accelerated removals and inspections of the Pratt & Whitney PW1100G engines, which power the airline’s Airbus A320neo family aircraft.

Photo: Johann Kirby Datoy | Shutterstock

Ch-aviation fleet records indicated that six A320neo and three A321neo are currently stored, while one A320neo aircraft is in maintenance at Manila Ninoy Aquino International Airport (MNL). Meanwhile, data from the aviation analytics company Cirium showed that in June, the airline had scheduled 918 weekly flights with the A320neo and A321neo, compared to 840 weekly flights in June 2023.

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Reducing A320neo family aircraft capacity

However, between June 2023 and June 2024, Cebu Pacific has taken delivery of seven A320neo family aircraft, including three A320neo and four A321neos, ch-aviation data showed. As a result, its weekly flights should have grown more, considering that in June 2024, the airline’s A320neo family aircraft had 188,976 weekly seats, while in June 2023, the type’s seats amounted to 174,492 weekly seats.

Photo: viper-zero | Shutterstock

Furthermore, Cebu Pacific has scheduled 9.3 million seats with the A320neo and A321neo in 2024, compared to 9.4 million seats in 2023, a reduction of 1.2%. During the same period, the airline’s total seats are scheduled to grow by 13.4%, going from 22.2 million in 2023 to 25.1 million in 2024.

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