Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 17) — Gokongwei-led Cebu Pacific is sticking with its projection that the local air travel industry will start witnessing a pre-pandemic demand by 2022 as the Philippines’ COVID-19 vaccine rollout is gradually gathering momentum, an official said Thursday.
In a virtual briefing, Candice Iyog, Cebu Pacific vice president for marketing and customer experience, said that while uncertainties remain, the group is hopeful of experiencing a rebound next year when more Filipinos have been vaccinated against COVID-19.
“To be honest, initially when it started rolling out and we were monitoring the inoculation rate, we were pleasantly surprised with 130,000 [vaccinees] a day. Now that A4 and private vaccinations [have already begun], we’re cautiously optimistic,” she said.
“We’d like to stick to what we’ve said before, but again so many things can still happen. What we do right now is we prepare for the bounce back and do everything that is within our control to support and aid that,” Iyog added.
As of June 14, the government said the 6.9 million vaccine doses million had been administered to 5.06 million Filipinos, including 1.87 million who have already received their second dose.
For this year, the administration’s target is to provide coronavirus shots to at least 50 million Filipinos.
“We remain optimistic with the arrival of more vaccines and the pace at which the vaccines are being rolled out. With that pace, that’s giving us the hope and optimism, that in due time our network will recover to pre-pandemic levels,” the executive said.
Iyog added the low-cost carrier is focusing on its local operations as it sees “a long way” to restore its international network.
It currently operates flights to 32 Philippines destinations.
In a disclosure dated May 10, Cebu Air Inc., operator of Cebu Pacific, said its net loss in the first quarter widened by a whopping 516.9% to ₱7.29 billion against the ₱1.18 billion posted a year earlier.
READ: Cebu Pacific operator secures $250M in fresh capital as Q1 net loss widens to ₱7.29B
