Cebu Pacific finds a silver lining in cargo

Cebu Pacific Air continues to enjoy strong cargo yields amid a drop in domestic capacity that coincides with a sharp rise in e-commerce. “There’s a lot of cargo capacity that’s [disappeared], but the demand actually has continued,” says Alexander Lao, chief strategy officer at the low-cost carrier. “There are a lot more e-commerce transactions happening in the Philippines…the Lazadas of this world are shipping so much stuff, the Shopees of this world are shipping so much stuff. And we have seen an increase in cargo yields.” Lazada and Shopee are prominent e-commerce platforms in the Asia-Pacific. Lao gives the example of the Manila-Davao route, which the carrier operated five-times-daily before the coronavirus pandemic. This has been cut to about one flight daily, sharply reducing bellyhold capacity.<br/>