Cebu Pacific welcomes 6 millionth passenger

Less than two months after marking its fifth anniversary last March 8, Cebu Pacific Air welcomed its six millionth revenue passenger.

Fifteen-year-old Odette Jumao-as, with parents Edward and Maria Teresa plus her two brothers, were on their way home to Manila from a 10-day holiday in Cebu when she was identified as the airline’s six millionth flyer. It was Odette’s first time to try the airline; her father is a frequent Cebu Pacific patron.

Initially averaging one million per year in its first three years of operations, Cebu Pacific’s load factor made a sharp rise in its fourth year when it hit the four millionth mark three months shy of its fourth birthday. Its five millionth paying passenger was flown seven months short of its fifth year celebration.

The country’s number two domestic carrier’s market share averaged 31 percent in the routes that it serves during the first quarter of 2001. The airline flies to 11 major destinations, as well as several intra-VisMin routes, with an average of 66 flights daily. Its Mactan Express alone offers eight flights daily between Manila and Cebu, the earliest of which leaves Manila at 1:50 a.m. and Cebu 3:50 a.m. Cebu Pacific Air is also the first airline in the world to garner company-wide certifications for AQS 9000/121 and ISO 9002.