Contributor - Europe

Cathy Buyck

Cebu Pacific signed an MoU on Tuesday at the Paris Air Show for 31 Airbus airliners—16 A330neos, 10 A321XLRs, and five A320neos—to support the Philippines-based low-cost carrier’s ongoing fleet renewal and growth. The deal also includes options on another 10 A321neos. Cebu Pacific, informally known as Cebu Pac, becomes one of the launch airlines for the newly launched 4,700-nm A321XLR.

 


Cebu Pacific will start receiving the Rolls-Royce Trent 7000-powered A330-900s in 2021 and the A321XLRs from 2024. The airline revealed the new widebodies with a high-density single-class configuration of 460 seats—5.5 percent more seats than its current A330ceos.

 


It is one of the very few long-haul low-cost carriers not to feature a premium cabin on its widebodies, a decision that Cebu Pacific chief executive advisor Mike Szucs explained was mainly driven by the lack of available airport slots in its home base in Manila and other large cities its serves. “We are operating in one of the most infrastructure-constrained environments [in the world],” he said. As demand for travel grows, “we need to have&nbsp;as high a seat density as possible to fly as many people as possible.”

 


Szucs said the high-density layout was possible because Airbus had come up with “some clever stuff,” such as the reconfiguration of the lavatories. Cebu Pac has not yet finalized the layout of the XLRs, though Szucs indicated the LCC would target 220 to 240 seats, and most likely 240—the A321neo is certified for a maximum seat capacity of 244. The A320neos will have 194 seats.

 


CFO Andrew Huang conceded the company has not yet decided on the engine selection—CFM International’s LEAP-1A or Pratt &amp; Whitney’s PurePower PW1100G-JM geared turbofan—for the new single-aisle neos. The airline in 2011 ordered 32 A321neos for delivery through 2022. These are currently being delivered with Pratt &amp; Whitney PW1100Gs.

 


Cebu Pac’s strategy to replace its jet fleet with bigger and more fuel-efficient aircraft will support its drive to reduce CO2 emissions and the need to “remain as cost competitive as possible,” Huang noted. The airline will deploy an all-Airbus neo fleet by the end of 2024.

 


Currently, it has a 72-aircraft fleet comprised of two Airbus A321neos, seven A321ceos, one A320neos, 33 A320ceos, eight A330ceos, eight ATR 72-500s, and 13 ATR 72-600s.

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