Cebu Pacific Air revealed on Tuesday that it has secured a preliminary agreement to purchase 152 single-aisle aircraft from Airbus SE for a total estimated value of $24 billion at list price.
According to a stock exchange filing, the low-cost carrier based in the Philippines has placed the largest jet purchase in the nation’s history. Cebu has agreed to purchase 102 A321neo aircraft, with the option to purchase a further 50 aircraft.
CEO Mike Szucs stated in the release that “when finalized, the deal will be a significant milestone for the local airline industry.”
An earlier story on the carrier’s purchasing plans by Bloomberg News has been confirmed by the order. Airlines frequently receive significant discounts on aircraft orders, resulting in a substantially cheaper end cost for Cebu.
An Airbus SE A321Neo passenger aircraft on the first day of the 53rd International Paris Air Show.
Airbus’s best-selling aircraft is the A321neo, and the airliner has a backlog that extends well into the upcoming ten years.
The US aircraft manufacturer was unable to win over Cebu, the biggest airline in the Philippines, despite Cebu having earlier stated that it was considering both Airbus and Boeing Co. aircraft for its next significant purchase. Cebu anticipates completing the deal in the current year’s third quarter.
Additionally, the carrier decided to power the upcoming fleet with Pratt & Whitney GTF engines from RTX Corp. For the next three years, the turbines of hundreds of GTF-powered jetliners—nearly two dozen of which are located in Cebu—must be taken out and brought into repair facilities so that any possibly defective parts created from tainted metal powder can be examined.
Controlled by tycoon Lance Gokongwei and his family’s conglomerate JG Summit Holdings Inc., the low-cost airline intends to consolidate its dominant domestic aviation market share position against a resurgent Philippine Airlines Inc. and grow out of a new airport being built in the nation’s capital, Manila.
