Cebu Pacific said Tuesday it signed a damp lease agreement with Bulgaria Air to meet the expected rise in passenger demand in line with continued post-pandemic air travel recovery.
Damp leasing, also known as ACMI, is an agreement between two airlines, where the lessor provides aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance (ACMI) to the lessee.
Under the agreement, the airline unit of the Gokongwei Group will lease two Airbus 320 CEO aircraft from Bulgaria Air that will service two domestic routes―Cebu and Davao―from January to May 2024.
Bulgaria Air, the national carrier of the Republic of Bulgaria, has many years of experience in damp leasing of aircraft having partnered with airlines all over the world.
The two leased A320ceo will each have a 180-seat capacity and will fly passengers from Manila to Cebu and Davao.
“We continue to explore various opportunities to supplement the fleet and ensure operational resilience. This includes signing a damp lease agreement with Bulgaria Air for five months in 2024,” Cebu Pacific president and chief commercial officer Xander Lao said.
“We expect to increase our fleet to 92 come end 2024. With this, we expect our year-on-year seat growth to be within 5 percent to 8 percent in 2024,” he said.
Cebu Pacific earlier posted a net income of P1.3 billion in the third quarter, a turnaround from last year’s net loss of P2.5 billion.
The airline generated P23.3 billion in revenue in the third quarter, up by 39 percent year-on-year and 23 percent above the same period in 2019.
This was on the back of over 5.3 million passengers flown onboard 35,000 flights, which were 27 percent and 18 percent higher year-on-year, respectively.