Cebu Pacific orders 37 new Airbus planes

Budget airline Cebu Pacific is eyeing to expand its operations by pouring $3.8 billion into the acquisition of 37 new Airbus aircrafts. In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the budget carrier said it will be purchasing seven A320 and 30 A321neo aircrafts, with options to order 10 more A321neos in the future. The orders will be delivered between 2015 and 2021, on top of its existing orders of 18 Airbus A320 aircrafts to be delivered starting the second half of 2011 until 2014. This brings the total fleet Cebu Pacific to 55, almost doubling its current aircraft count. "The aircraft will reduce our unit cost per seat to a level that cannot be achieved flying A320s," said Cebu Pacific president and CEO Lance Gokongwei. This will allow the company to create more highly skilled jobs for Filipinos, Gokongwei added. Currently, Cebu Pacific utilizes 33 aircrafts, 25 of which are from the Airbus A320 family, and eight ATR turbo-props. —JMT/VS, GMA News