Were back, says Cebu Pacific as prepandemic flight levels near

The financial losses arising from the canceled and delayed flights due to the air traffic navigation glitch on Jan. 1 will not derail the recovery plans of Cebu Pacific, which eyes to return to profitability as early as first quarter of this year.

The budget carrier, which is nearing full restoration of flight capacity, is also allocating P42 billion in capital expenditures this year for mostly aircraft-related spending.

Cebu Pacific president Xander Lao, on the sidelines of an event on Wednesday in Makati City, told reporters that the New Years Day incident only had minimal impact financially for the company, which operated 16 recovery flights following the shutdown of the communications, navigation and surveillance/air traffic management system. He did not disclose specific figures.

Its just one day. Obviously, its not a great experience for those that were impacted [but] those that were travelling Jan. 2 onwards, [operations were already normalized], he explained.