Cebu Pacific gets BOI perks for A330 purchase

MANILA, Philippines - The Board of Investments (BOI) will extend incentives to Cebu Air Inc.’s P6.1- billion air transport project under the public infrastructure and logistics activity of the new investment priorities plan.

The project involves the acquisition of an Airbus 330 (A330) aircraft on a finance lease scheme with Airbus SAS France to add to Cebu Air’s current fleet of 58.

The A330 is a long range, twin aisle commercial passenger aircraft manufactured by Airbus with a maximum passenger capacity of 436.

Cebu Air, which operates budget carrier Cebu Pacific, now has four A319s, 36 A320s, eight A330s and ATR 72-500s, and three ATR 72-600s in its fleet.

Commercial operation of the new aircraft commenced last May, servicing the Manila-Incheon (South Korea)-Manila and Manila-Bangkok (Thailand)-Manila routes, adding 186 new jobs to its current rooster of around 3,400 personnel, the BOI said.

Cebu Air is a subsidiary of JG Summit Holdings Inc., one of the largest conglomerates in the country. Cebu Pacific, which started flying in 1996, pioneered the “low fare, great value” strategy in the aviation industry.

“The growth of the air transport industry remains robust. This will allow Cebu Pacific to further expand its operation as a major budget carrier, stimulating passenger traffic growth with more affordable fares from these strategic routes. More tourists in Asian countries especially from Korea are expected to come in with this new project,” BOI managing head Ceferino Rodolfo said.

South Korea was the largest source of foreign tourists in the country with 686,630 arrivals from January to May 2017, accounting for a market share of 24 percent, according to figures from the Department of Tourism (DOT).

For this year, the DOT continues to maintain its target of hitting seven million tourist arrivals, up from nearly six million last year or an increase of 17 percent.

“The government remains optimistic that it will attain the target of 12 million foreign tourist arrivals and 89 million domestic travelers by 2022, based on the National Tourism Development Plan,” the BOI said.