This will see the low-cost carrier finally fly to destinations like El Nido.
On Monday, October 7, news broke out that the Gokongwei family-owned low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific Air has signed a 100% purchase agreement with Ayala Land Inc. Capital Corp. for the acquisition of AirSwift Transport, Inc.
The said subsidiary owns under its wings the boutique airline AirSwift, which has routes from Manila and Clark to destinations like El Nido and Coron in Palawan, Boracay in Aklan, and Bohol.
The purchase agreement, which costs Php 1.75 billion, was regarded by Cebu Pacific as its way to “increase accessibility to local destinations fbat have high potential and are world-renowned for having some of the best beaches in the world.”
As of the moment, the Gokongwei-led airline will not be making any change to the schedules and services offered by the former Ayala-owned air carrier.
With this acquisition, the Cebu Pacific fleet will also see the addition of 5 turboprop planes composed of 3 ATR 72 planes and 2 ATR 42 planes.
The company’s entire fleet currently has 20 turboprop planes and upwards of 50 long-haul and medium-haul planes that include A320s A321neo, and A330, and are expecting deliveries to reach the target 95 planes by this year’s end.
Recently, Cebu Pacific closed the landmark Php 1 trillion deal with Airbus, where the LCC will be acquiring 152 units from the European plane manufacturer.
Without AirSwift in the equation, Cebu Pacific flies to 35 domestic and 26 international destinations in Asia and Australia.