Cebu Pacific Finalises Order for 30 A321neos

Cebu Pacific of the Philippines has finalised a firm order with Airbus for the purchase of 30 A321neo aircraft. The contract firms up a previously announced MoU signed in June.

With this latest purchase agreement the airline has increased its total firm orders for the A320 Family to 71, of which 16 have already been delivered. The airline currently operates 25 A320 Family aircraft, including the 16 purchased from Airbus and nine leased aircraft.

Cebu Pacific plans to configure its A321neo fleet with 220 seats in a single class layout and will fly the aircraft across its expanding pan-Asian network. This currently includes 34 domestic and 16 international destinations, including Osaka, Seoul (Incheon), Beijing, Jakarta, Bangkok and Singapore. The airline has not yet unveiled its engine selection for the aircraft.

"The A321neo will enable us to increase capacity on our key routes while benefiting from the lowest operating costs of any aircraft in this size category," said Lance Gokongwei, Cebu Pacific President and CEO. "With these aircraft we will continue to build upon our reputation for offering high quality low fares service with one of the most modern and youngest fleets in Asia."

The A321neo is the largest model in the recently launched A320neo series, which incorporates new engines and large wing tip devices called sharklets. Airbus says the advances will deliver fuel savings of over 15% and additional payload or range capability. The fuel savings translate into some 3,600 tonnes less CO2 per aircraft per year. In addition, the aircraft will provide a double-digit reduction in NOx emissions and reduced engine noise.

The new engines types offered on the A320neo Family are CFM International’s LEAP-X and Pratt & Whitney’s PurePower PW1100G.

CEB currently operates 10 Airbus A319, 15 Airbus A320 and 8 ATR-72 500 aircraft. By the end of 2011, CEB will be operating a fleet of 37 aircraft – with an average age of less than 3.5 years – one of the most modern aircraft fleets in the world.

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