Cebu Pacific logs 24.5M passengers in 2024, up 17.6%

Budget carrier Cebu Pacific had serviced 24.5 million passengers in 2024, up 17.6% from 20.9 million in 2023 amid growing travel demand.

In a statement, Cebu Pacific said that of the total number of passengers flown in 2024, 18.5 million were domestic passengers, growing 15.5% year-on-year.

International passengers, meanwhile, increased by 24.6% to 6 million.

The airline said the seat load factor last year averaged 84.4%, while overall capacity in seats grew 17.1% to 29.1 million.

“Cebu Pacific is strategically positioned to take advantage of the Philippines’ economic growth and robust travel demand,” said Mike Szucs, CEO of Cebu Pacific.

“The increased growth rate through [the] fourth quarter [of] 2024 has already been absorbed by the market, with load factors stable to positive versus the previous year. We will continue to focus on the reliability and stability in our operations through our ongoing management of powdered metal issues with Pratt & Whitney and, at the same time, [optimize] our capacity to serve the increase in consumer demand.''

In December 2024 alone, Cebu Pacific said it had 2.6 million passengers, up 31.4% year-on-year.

Domestic passengers, in December 2024, rose 32% versus the same month in 2023.

Cebu Pacific said traffic growth was driven by strong demand around the Christmas holiday period, supported by route launches from new bases in Iloilo and Davao, the airline said.

International passenger traffic also grew 29.5% year-on-year, with Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, and Hong Kong recording strong growth driven by additional frequencies and capacity for the key destinations. — VBL, GMA Integrated News