cebu pacific has beat pal domestically on 2007


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By Darwin G. Amojelar

CEBU Pacific said the number of passengers it carried rose more than
half last year on back of rising domestic and international traffic.

The Gokongwei-led budget airline carried 5.49 million passengers last
year, a 58-percent increase from a year earlier, and surpassing its
target of 5 million passengers for 2007.

Of the total, domestic flyers accounted for 4.46 million, up 46.75
percent from 2006. The carrier attributed the increase to its
expansion
to routes such as Cebu-Kalibo, Cebu-Puerto Princesa, Cebu-Cagayan de
Oro
and Cebu-Butuan.

Domestic passenger load factor rose from 74.89 percent to 82.59
percent.

Candice Iyog, airline vice- president for marketing and products, said
this makes Cebu Pacific the single largest domestic carrier in the
country, offering the most routes, destinations and flights in the
Philippines.

In addition, international traffic jumped by 140.77 percent to 1.03
million last year from 428,926 in 2006, as new destinations were
introduced, including Jakarta, Taipei, Shanghai, Xiamen, Guangzhou and
Macau.

"Our system-wide passenger load factor rose to 81.65 percent from
75.3 percent in 2006. This is a new milestone that will further
encourage us to continue offering low fares, new planes, and quality
service." Iyog said.

The airline completed its refleeting program last year with 15 Airbus
aircraft, including 10 A319s and five A320s, and it expects the
arrival
of 10 brand-new aircraft, such as six ATRs and four A320s in 2008 to
service new domestic and international destinations.

Cebu Pacific earlier secured Securities and Exchange Com-mission
approval to raise P6.64 billion in net proceeds through its first sale
of its shares to the public this year. The proceeds will be used for
its
refleeting program.

The airline appointed UBS Investment Bank as the sole international
underwriter, sole book runner and lead manager for the offering and
ING
Bank N.V. and First Metro Investments Corp. as joint domestic lead
underwriters.

Iyog said the airline's average fleet age stands at 1.7 years,
excluding the 10 brand-new aircraft set for delivery this year, making
Cebu Pacific the youngest fleet in the Philippines."

The budget carrier plans to fly new routes this year such as
Davao-Iloilo, Davao-Hong Kong and Davao-Singapore direct. Also, it
will
add a second daily frequency to Singapore and will mount additional
flights to Macau making it a daily service from Manila beginning June
2008.

Cebu Pacific flies to 12 international and 21 domestic destinations,
including Caticlan starting February. It operates international
flights
in the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and the Mactan-Cebu
International Airport.
.