Cebu Pacific eyes 80% hike on fuel surcharge for Korea route

MANILA, Philippines - Cebu Air Inc. of taipan John Gokongwei is set to impose an 80 percent increase in its fuel surcharge for passengers going to Pusan in Korea due to rising price of aviation fuel in the world market.

In a petition filed before the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), the operator of Cebu Pacific said it is seeking to impose an upward adjustment in the fuel surcharge imposed on international passenger tickets to Pusan to $45 per passenger from $25 at present.

The airline currently flies to Busan and Incheon in Korea. It also flies to Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Brunei, China, Indonesia, Osaka in Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam and Siem Reap, among others.

Cebu Pacific last week launched its maiden Iloilo – Hong Kong and  Iloilo – Singapore flights via the Iloilo International Airport.

Iloilo is the sixth hub of the airline. Other operational hubs are Manila, Cebu, Clark, Kalibo and Davao.

The airline currently operates 10 Airbus A319, 22 Airbus A320 and eight ATR-72 500 aircraft. Its fleet of 40 aircraft – with an average age of 3.6 years – is the largest aircraft fleet in the Philippines. Between 2012 and 2021, Cebu Pacific will have 19 more Airbus A320 and 30 Airbus A321neo aircraft.

Cebu Pacific is slated to begin long-haul services in the third quarter of next year.

In the first half of the year, Cebu Pacific’s net income dropped 29 percent to P1.735 billion from P2.44 billion in the same period last year due to higher flying operation expenses arising from more expensive oil prices in the world market.

The airline reported that expenses surged 24.7 percent to P18.199 billion in the first half from P14.595 billion in the same period last year. Flying operations expenses jumped 28 percent to P10.516 billion from P8.209 billion a year ago.

Cebu Pacific also reported higher expenses for aircraft and traffic servicing, repairs and maintenance, aircraft and engine lease as well as passenger service.

On the other hand, revenues went up 17.9 percent to P19.729 billion in the first half from P16.73 billion in the same period last year.

As of end-June, the airline operates an extensive route network of 52 domestic routes and 28 international routes with a total of 1,885 scheduled weekly flights.