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Cebu Pacific flew 24.5 million passengers in 2024, marking a 17.6% increase from 20.9 million in 2023
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Domestic passengers carried grew 15.5% year-on-year to 18.5 million, while international passengers increased 24.6% year-on-year to six million
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The airline’s seat load factor averaged 84.4% last year, while overall capacity in seats grew 17.1% to 29.1 million
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For December 2024 alone, Cebu Pacific carried 2.6 million passengers, up 31.4% year-on-year with both domestic and international passenger traffic recording double-digit growth
Cebu Pacific flew 24.5 million passengers in 2024, marking a 17.6% increase from 20.9 million in 2023.
Domestic passengers carried grew 15.5% year-on-year to 18.5 million, while international passengers increased 24.6% year-on-year to six million, the low-cost carrier said in a statement.
The airline’s seat load factor (SLF) averaged 84.4% last year, while overall capacity in seats grew 17.1% to 29.1 million.
For December 2024 alone, Cebu Pacific carried 2.6 million passengers, up 31.4% year-on-year with both domestic and international passenger traffic recording double-digit growth.
SLF in December 2024 likewise improved to 85.2% from 84.8% in December 2023, while seat capacity grew by 30.7%, the low-cost carrier said in a statement.
Domestic passengers carried grew 32% last December versus December 2023 on 34.5% higher seats, with an SLF of 85.4%.
Traffic growth was driven by strong demand around the Christmas holiday period, supported by route launches from new bases in Iloilo and Davao, Cebu Pacific noted.
Passenger traffic in its Davao hub also grew 2.4 times, driven by new destinations such as Boracay, Puerto Princesa, and Tacloban. The Iloilo hub, meanwhile, added five more destinations, namely Dumaguete, Daraga, Tacloban, and Tagbilaran, resulting in 3.3 times increase in passenger traffic year-on-year.
International passenger traffic, meanwhile, rose 29.5% year-on-year in December 2024 on 21.0% higher seats, which allowed a 5.6 percentage point increase in SLF to 84.7%.
Key destinations Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, and Hong Kong recorded strong growth driven by additional frequencies and capacity.
“The increased growth rate through Q4 2024 has already been absorbed by the market with load factors stable to positive versus the previous year,” Cebu Pacific chief executive officer Mike Szucs said.
“We will continue to focus on the reliability and stability in our operations through our ongoing management of powdered metal issues with Pratt & Whitney [P&W] and at the same time optimizing our capacity to serve the increase in consumer demand,” Szucs added.
American aerospace manufacturer P&W in 2023 announced that it would recall about 600 to 700 engines for inspection between 2023 and 2026 due to an issue related to the powdered metal used to make certain parts. Cebu Pacific earlier said this affects aircraft availability in 2024, as its fleet includes more than 20 P&W powered Airbus aircraft.
READ: Cebu Pacific Air ends 2024 with 17th aircraft delivery
