Cebu Pacific again flags ‘poor recovery’ in Mainland China

Cebu Pacific has again flagged sluggish recovery for the China market, as it confirms that it has “redeployed” capacity to other parts of its network. Citing tourism arrival figures, president and commercial chief Xander Lao says China “remains one of those countries…that have a very poor recovery ratio” post-pandemic, with tourist numbers 83% below 2019 levels. “From our perspective, we have already redeployed some of the assets that were initially intended for China to other places within network,” Lao adds. It is not the first time the airline has warned of a slow recovery from the China market: back in 2023, the low-cost operator pushed back the restart of several points in its Mainland China network, citing sluggish demand. Lao was speaking at a briefing on 27 March, following the release of the airline’s annual results for 2024. For the year to 31 December 2024, the airline reported an operating profit of Ps9.2b ($160m), up 7% year on year.<br/>