Cebu Pacific will damp lease a pair of Airbus A320s from Bulgaria Air, as part of plans to shore up capacity for the year-end peak period.
The pair of aircraft – configured to seat 180 passengers – will be based in Manila, says the low-cost operator.
They will be deployed on four key domestic routes – Cebu, Davao, Iloilo and Cagayan de Oro – for a six-week period between December 2025 and January 2026.
Under the damp lease agreement, Bulgaria Air – the national carrier of the eastern European state – will provide pilots and maintanence support, while Cebu Pacific will be deploying its own cabin crew on these flights.
It is the second time that the two carriers have worked together: Cebu Pacific damp leased a pair of Bulgaria Air jets in 2024.
The capacity boost comes as the airline projects to carry around 28 million passengers in 2025 – around 15% growth, says airline chief Mike Szucs.
Szucs, who was speaking at a media roundtable in Singapore, says the airline has added the two Bulgaria Air jets “because demand in and around Christmas is extremely strong…and because we’ve got aircraft that are currently on ground”.
Like other carriers in the region, Cebu Pacific has been impacted by engine reliability issues on its A320neo-family jets, which are powered by Pratt & Whitney PW1100G engines.
According to Szucs, Cebu Pacific has about 14 aircraft – out of a fleet 100 jets – grounded due to the engine issues.
