Philippines' Cebu Pacific bets on tourism boom with $24bn Airbus order

The operator of Philippine budget airline Cebu Pacific is spending heavily to tap into a post-pandemic rebound in travel demand, likely to be boosted by the prospect of an overhaul to an airport that had been considered one of the world's worst. Travelers are keen to visit destinations like the white sand beaches of El Nido in Palawan province, consistently ranked among the world's most beautiful. El Nido is an hour and a half away from Manila by plane on flights operated by AirSwift, part of the Ayala conglomerate. Cebu Air said in July it is in talks to acquire AirSwift. That would give it the Manila-El Nido route along with international flights into the capital. The Cebu Pacific operator aims to reach an agreement within the next few months, according to local media. Cebu Air, a core unit of the Gokongwei family's JG Summit conglomerate, has attracted customers with eye-catching promotions like limited-time offers of zero-fare flights. It logged 20.86m passengers last year -- handily beating formerly state-run flag carrier Philippine Airlines -- and booked a net profit of 7.9b pesos ($140m), even with its hefty discounts. This year, it has started to ramp up investment, signing an agreement with Airbus last month to buy up to 152 planes, mainly fuel-efficient A321neo jets. That would on its own amount to nearly double the size of Cebu Air's entire fleet at the end of 2023.<br/>