CEB, Bulgaria Air ink lease deal for new aircraft

Cebu Pacific (CEB) has formally signed a damp lease agreement with Bulgaria’s flagship airline Bulgaria Air to acquire new aircraft for operations in 2024 in response to growing passenger demand.

In a statement, the Gokongweiowned

airline said that it will lease two Airbus 320 CEO aircraft that will be used for two domestic routes from January to May 2024.

The leased planes can seat up to 180 passengers, flying from Manila to Cebu, and from Manila to Davao.

In accordance with the five-month damp lease agreement, Bulgaria Air will provide aircraft, crew, maintenance, and insurance (ACMI) to CEB.

CEB President and Chief Commercial Officer Xander Lao said that the airline is continuing to “explore various opportunities to supplement the fleet and ensure operational resilience.”

“We expect to increase our fleet to 92 come end of 2024. With this, we expect our year-on-year seat growth to be within five percent to eight percent in 2024,” he added.

CEB has been accelerating efforts to augment its fleet as it expects a total of 19 new aircraft to arrive for this year. Already, 17 planes have arrived, while two more are pending arrival in the fourth quarter of 2023.

This brings the total number of CEB’S aircraft to 76 this year. Overall, 92 aircraft is the current target of the airline for 2024.

The new planes were also acquired to prepare for the impact of the grounding of the airline’s 10 to 20 aircraft starting January 2024 due to inspections and replacement operations of the Pratt and Whitney engines that power the A320/321 new engine option (NEO) fleet.