Cebu Pacific saw a slight dip in passenger traffic in August 2025, a result of the lean travel season in the Philippines.
The airline, led by the Gokongwei family, carried 2.1 million passengers in August, a 0.4 percent decrease compared to the same period last year.
Seat load factor (SLF) increased to 83.7 percent from 81.3 percent last year, while seat capacity declined by 3.2 percent.
Domestic passengers decreased by 4.4 percent compared to August 2024 on 10.7 percent fewer seats. The domestic SLF increased by 5.7 percentage points to 87.6 percent.
International passenger traffic, meanwhile, grew 13.3 percent year-over-year on 21.4 percent more seats, which resulted in a 5.3 percentage point decrease in SLF to 74.2 percent.
For the first eight months of 2025, Cebu Pacific passengers grew to 18.1 million, a 15.2 percent increase from 15.7 million in 2024.
Domestic passengers rose 14 percent to 13.5 million, while international passengers grew 18.8 percent to 4.6 million. SLF averaged 85.2 percent, and overall capacity in seats grew 15.1 percent to 21.3 million.
“The softer year-on-year traffic in August reflects the usual lean travel season in the Philippines, particularly for domestic routes, while international passenger growth remained strong,” said Mike Szucs, chief executive of Cebu Pacific.
“We see this as an expected and temporary dip, with traffic rebounding in the fourth quarter as peak travel season begins and aircraft availability improves.”
“We moderated our domestic capacity growth in August due to some unscheduled engine removals, the flyadeal wet-lease, and scheduled maintenance events in preparation for the busy holiday months,” he added.
“These actions enable our capacity to be optimized so that we can deliver higher growth in the fourth quarter to coincide with the anticipated strong demand.”
Cebu Pacific offers the widest network coverage in the Philippines with 37 domestic and 26 international destinations. It operates one of the youngest fleets in the world, with a fleet of 99 aircraft.
