Cebu Pacific Air orders $3.8-Billion Dollar planes from Airbus

The Cebu City, Philippines’ largest national flag carrier, Cebu Pacific (PSE:CEB) announced that they have ordered 30 new Airbus A321neo and 7 A320 aircraft. The order at list price is valued at approximately USD3.8 billion, the largest single aircraft order ever made by a Philippine carrier.

CEB turned into firm orders its existing options for 7 Airbus A320 aircraft, and has placed a new order for  thirty  (30) A321neo (New Engine Option) aircraft with options for a further  ten (10) A321neos. The

A321neos will be a first of its type to operate in the Philippines, being a larger and longer-haul version of the familiar Airbus A320.

The said orders for A320 and A321neo aircraft will be delivered between 2015 and 2021. These are on top of firm orders for 18 Airbus A320 aircraft to be delivered from the 2nd half of 2011 until 2014. This increases Cebu Pacific’s total firm orders of Airbus aircraft to 55.

 “Cebu Pacific has made the largest firm order for the Airbus A321neo aircraft in the world. These 220-seater aircraft will be a real ‘game changer’ for Cebu Pacific because the A321neo will have a much longer range. We will be able to serve cities in Australia, India and Northern Japan, places the A320 cannot reach,” said CEB CEO and President Lance Gokongwei.

“The aircraft will reduce our unit cost per seat to a level that cannot be achieved flying A320s. This means that Cebu Pacific will be able to offer even lower fares to our guests and be much more competitive with anyone flying less cost efficient aircraft. This will allow us to create highly skilled, highly paid airline jobs for Filipino pilots, cabin crew and airline staff,” added Gokongwei.

Cebu Pacific currently utilizes 33 brand-new aircraft, 25 of which are from the Airbus A320 family and 8 ATR turbo-prop aircraft. By 2021, CEB will more than double its fleet and triple its capacity.  

John Leahy, Airbus Chief Operating Officer, Customers, said, "With the A321neo, Cebu Pacific will be able to fly more people further at significantly lower cost per seat than any other competing aircraft, and with less impact on the environment."

The A321neo is the largest model in the recently launched A320neo series. It incorporates new engines and large wing-tip devices called sharklets, allowing CEB to achieve 15% reduced fuel burn, and function on a lower operating cost.

The new engine types offered on the A320neo are CFM International’s LEAP-X and Pratt & Whitney’s

PurePower PW1100G. Cebu Pacific has not made an engine choice at this time.

Since its inception in 1996, the Philippines’ low-fare pioneer, CEB, had already flown 50 million passengers and counting. It broke local aviation records for passengers carried in a month in April and May of 2011, carrying more than 1 million passengers per month.

This year, CEB will carry more than 12 million passengers. It achieved a year-on-year growth of 19% in 2010.

 

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Investments in the Philippines surge to 338% to ₱ 191 Billion in first 2-Q 2011

Investment commitments went up by 338 percent to ₱ 191.182 billion in the first five months of the year from a year ago level of P43.613 billion as more investments for energy projects continued to pour into the country, the Board of Investments (BOI) reported reported June 15, 2011.

The BOI also approved 117 projects during the period, up from 65 a year ago.

These projects are expected to create employment for 24,337 workers, up 188 percent from 8,465 jobs created in January to May last 2010.

"We grew in all aspects," BOI executive director Lucita P. Reyes said of the first five months performance of the agency.

Reyes said that 39 percent of the total approvals from the period came from energy projects.

The single biggest project was that of Petron Corp, the country's largest oil refinery. Petron will invest ₱74.78 billion for the full conversion of its Limay refinery to a cleaner white oil.

Reyes said Petron will upgrade its existing refinery into full conversion oil refinery to convert fuel oil to white oil. She explained this will make the firm Euro 4 compliant one year ahead of the imposed schedule.

The by products like petro feedstock will be sold to plastic producers or propylene as raw materials for polymer plastics

Reyes said Petron's investment will create 165 jobs in addition to the existing regular employees to support additional processes. The implementation will begin July 2015. The project is registered as downstream industry in the Deregulation Industries Act that is why the BOI granted the project a five year ITH.

There were four other wind power projects registered under the Renewable Energy Law.

After energy, the second biggest sector was the low cost mass housing sector. SM Development Corp. (SMDC) was the largest developer of mass housing projects followed by Filinvest Land and DMCI. SMDC has invested P7.8 billion for its big ticket mass housing projects

Under the infrastructure project one of the big investments was the ₱1.9 billion project of Boracay Island Water. This project is a joint venture project of the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) and the Manila Water.

Reyes said there is a concession agreement between the two parties to improve the water system in the island and likewise construct a better sewerage system for the tourist spot.

 "This investment is necessary because the problem of Boracay is the sewerage and the water. This can solve a lot of problems," Reyes said.

Reyes said they only registered one mining firm for the period which is the ₱ 2.05 billion project Citinickel Mines and Development Corp. in Barangay Narra Palawan.

Citinickel holds the mineral production sharing agreement that covers the 2,200-hectare sprawling nickel-rich mining concession in the towns of Narra and Sofronio in Palawan.

The mining project features development and operations limited to waste stripping, ore extraction, loading, and shipment as well as construction, rehabilitation and improvement of mine haul and access roads.

It also includes construction and operations of mine structures and support facilities, such as stockyards, equipment yard and office, camp site and assay and drainage systems, waste dump areas, settling ponds and other silt and erosion control infrastructures.

 

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