Profits aren’t just booming over at Philippines’ leading airline Cebu Pacific, they’re skyrocketing!
According to the airline’s financial report for the first three months of the year, the airline and its subsidiary Cebgo (formerly Tigerair Philippines), generated a net income of P2.2 billion (AU$61.7 million).
That’s 13 times higher than the P164.2 million made during same period the prior year.
A huge increase!
The Cebu Pacific Air group’s Q1 2015 revenues increased by 20.7 percent year-on-year to P14.2 billion.
While passenger revenues grew by 22.2 percent to P10.8 billion and cargo revenues went up to P772.5 million, an increase of 13.6 percent compared to the same period in 2014.
So what is this airline group doing to generate such a huge profit?
Well, according to the report, ancillary charges are bringing in big numbers.
Baggage fees, onboard meal charges and other ancillary revenues increased 17 percent to bring in a total of P2.6 billion or AU$72.9 million.
The airline says this was driven by improved online bookings and a wider range of ancillary revenue products and services.
Then there’s the network growth, which helped the airline group carry 13 percent more passengers compared to the start of 2014.
Q1 2015 passenger growth was from both the domestic and international markets.
CEB says the upsurge was largely influenced by growth in passengers flown to and from long haul destinations such as Dubai, Riyadh, Kuwait, and Sydney.
It also came from new routes, including direct flights Kalibo-Hong Kong and Cebu-Tokyo, which were all launched during the first quarter.
“CEB attributes its bullish income and passenger growth to increased presence in key markets, strategic seat sales offering the lowest possible fares, and continuous network expansion.”
Atty. JR Mantaring, CEB Corporate Affairs Officer-in-Charge
“Our latest operating statistics affirm our objective which is to further stimulate air travel and grow inbound tourism by expanding our services in new destinations.”
The recent decline in fuel prices also contributed to the significant improvement in net income, as CEB’s total fuel cost for Q1 2015 was reduced by 22 percent to P4.32 billion, from P5.55 billion expended in the same period last year.
